ELECTION fever has come early to one of the area's schools.

Pupils at Roseberry Comprehensive School at Pelton, near Chester-le-Street will be holding their own General Election on Thursday - the date Prime Minister Tony Blair was originally expected to go the polls.

The students will have the choice of Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative candidates, chosen from the school's sixth form.

All three candidates have the support of their respective parties and will be briefed by their senior counterparts who will contest the genuine General Election.

To ensure the election is carried out fairly, Colin Turnbull of Chester-le-Street District Council's democratic services department will be briefing Roseberry's elections officer - sixth former Katherine Briggs - and her team.

Mr Turnbull will return to the school on the day of the election to oversee the counting of votes and the announcement of results.

Head of sixth form, Lester Crawford, said the aim was to make the election as realistic as possible. He said: "With voting booths and ballot boxes supplied by the district council with a proper electoral registration procedure and with visits by candidates who will be contesting the north Durham constituency, this will be a realistic and valuable learning experience for our students.

"Every pupil in the school will be able to join in and learn something about politics and elections. For the sixth formers who are organising and taking part it should be a really exciting event."

The candidates are Mark Heckels for Labour, Richard Garthwaite for the Liberal Democrats, and Louise Redshaw for the Tories.