CHILDREN are helping to create their own playground, with art work, which will transform a grassland.

Artist Graeme Hopper hopes to inject a splash of colour into land opposite Kwik Save, Bishop Auckland, when he helps create a play area.

He is creating railings to fence off the area, using designs created by youngsters at Auckland Youth and Community Centre's After School Drop-in, at Woodhouse Close.

The children's drawings, based on a water theme, will be incorporated into panels on the fencing, such as nine-year-old Chelsea Hughes' drawings of water spiders and a water worms.

The project is run by Groundwork West Durham and Government programme Sure Start, which aims to provide children under four years old in deprived areas with the same facilities and opportunities as other youngsters.