A DEADLY craze among village youngsters has prompted an urgent warning from police.

Teenagers and younger children are risking their lives by hurling themselves from the top of a 100ft quarry into netting designed to stop litter being blown into surrounding countryside.

Several incidents of the potentially deadly game have been reported at the waste management site, between Coxhoe and Quarrington Hill near Durham City. Children from the two villages and neighbouring Kelloe are thought to be taking part.

Last night, police asked parents to warn children of the dangers involved, because the net may not prove strong enough to break the youngsters' fall.