SCHOOL meals staff in Hartlepool put their culinary skills to the test to bring a week of centenary celebrations to a tasty conclusion.

They helped staff and pupils to celebrate Jesmond Road Primary School's 100th birthday by making a giant cake.

Sixteen separate chocolate cakes formed the basis of their 5ft by 4ft creation, which was decorated with a school crest in icing. The ingredients included 30lbs of butter cream.

Doreen Wilkinson, Hartlepool Borough Council's catering manager, said: "I decided to do this as the school meals service contribution when the headteacher mentioned it was the school's 100th birthday.

"The catering staff from a number of different schools have been excellent. They managed to make the cake while also preparing school dinners for the pupils."

Youngsters put the cake to the ultimate test when it was sliced up into 600 portions and quickly devoured.

The catering staff also helped earlier in the week by producing some Edwardian recipes as part of the celebrations.

Darren Holmes, headteacher, said: "The centenary week celebrations have been a complete team effort.

"The catering staff are a crucial part of that team and I'm delighted they chose to help us celebrate in this way."