YOUNGSTERS have been given lessons in washing their hands.

Children at Normanby Primary School, near Middlesbrough, were presented with a five-step guide underlining the importance of clean hands in food handling.

The classroom guidance was given as part of National Food Safety Week. It coincided with dirty work pupils have been getting up to with a project involved in digging up garden insects.

They were told that germs can stay alive for three hours on hands unwashed after a visit to the toilet.

Stella Forrest, principal environmental health officer with Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, said: "We are basically telling them the importance of washing their hands, that if you put dirty fingers in your mouth it can make you poorly.''