HOUSEWORK can seem a never-ending cycle, but when you are dusting, hoovering and sweeping a Norman cathedral, more than one pair of hands are required.

A team of volunteers descended on Durham Cathedral this week to help carry out maintenance and cleaning on the building, which is nearly 1,000 years old.

The volunteers working for Cathedral Camps have arrived from across the country and many will go on to carry out similar work on other cathedrals in the country.

Clerk of works, the Reverend Margaret Parker said: "Some of them are on scaffolding, hoovering down the very high window ledges and others have been on the tower sweeping the floor. They certainly do a lot of work."