NURSERY children with a taste for good food have become some the youngest winners of an award.

Staff at the Bishop Auckland Nursery Centre have won Investing in Children status for the way they guide their young clients to make up their own minds.

The youngsters at the nursery, who are aged between two and four, choose their own lunch menus, draw up a shopping list and help to buy food for the meals at local shops.

The award was made after a rigorous inspection of the centre in Walker Drive, on the Woodhouse Close estate.

Nursery manager Camella Gowling said: "The children were enthusiastic about having such a say in what they ate.

"When the food was prepared they served it themselves. It has certainly been a big attraction with them."

The nursery first learned of the award scheme after staff member Hayley Scown went on a Communicating with Children course. Now the children are regularly consulted about various aspects of the nursery.

Investing in Children co-ordinator Liam Cairns said: "It was quite evident that staff have put an awful lot of effort into increasing the number of choices that the children are able to make.