PERFORMING arts students from Newton Aycliffe chose the story of the town's munitions workers as the subject for an A-Level project.

As part of their assessment modules, the students had to devise a piece of work based on local history and perform it in the community.

Patricia Wingfield, Stephanie Armstrong and Marie Ward, from Woodham Community Technology College, staged a production called Aycliffe Angels, The Forgotten Army.

The performance was based on the thousands of women who risked their lives working in the munitions factory in Newton Aycliffe during the Second World War.

Part of the assignment was to select a venue appropriate to the work, and the students chose St Clare's Church, which has a monument dedicated to the Aycliffe Angels in its grounds.

A spokesman for the school said: "The girls worked really hard on this piece of work and, although they were very nervous performing in front of an audience for the first time, they pulled out all the stops to give a great presentation."

The girls were helped by Chris Forster, from the school's history department, who provided the background information and pictures necessary to research the Aycliffe Angels and the set for the production.