THREE A-level students were so shocked by the poverty they witnessed on a trip to Belarus that they raised money for a group from the former Soviet state to holiday in England.

Mark Tallon, and friends Gavin Arnold and Doug Tailby, all aged 18, visited Belarus last year for a youth conference and stayed with families in the capital, Minsk.

Belarus suffered as a result of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986.

The three students, who have just left Prior Pursglove college in Guisborough, were so moved by what they saw that the past year has been spent on a fundraising drive to bring five students and a teacher to England.

The students, who had never been out of Eastern Europe, flew into England last week for a nine-day trip.

They are staying with Mark and his friends, who have taken them around the sights of the North-East, including Preston Park, Fountains Abbey, Marske, Redcar, Whitby and York.

Mark said: "We took them for a barbecue at Marske the other night. They were so amazed by the sea that they stood there for ages just staring into it. Belarus is a land-locked country so most of them had never seen the sea before.

"They keep saying how much different everything is here to Eastern Europe. It is a real eye-opener."

Mark, Gavin and Doug, raised a total of £3,500 to bring the Belarussians to England, through pub quizzes, raffles, packing bags in supermarkets and even a Boxing Day dip in the North Sea. They also organised all the visas and flight tickets.