YOUNGSTERS from a Darlington school have gone into print to express the stark reality of life on an estate ravaged by the bulldozers.

Pupils at Firth Moor Infant and Nursery School speak of rats and abandoned animals in a series of poems submitted to The Northern Echo.

Hundreds of houses on the Firth Moor estate are being demolished to make way for new homes in a £3m Government Single Regeneration Budget bid to regenerate the area.

The school's year two pupils, many of whom are having to move or have seen friends' houses knocked down, were asked by teachers to write about their experiences as part of a topic on the environment.

Teacher Elizabeth Robson said: "The children are naturally upset by what is happening - a lot are moving house or are surrounded by empty properties. What we find is that they are not very good at writing about far away places - we often focus on things like the rainforest disappearing. But they are now writing about something that they know about and feel strongly about, which is why the quality is so good."

Youngsters at Firth Moor Infant School face more upheaval in September when the school merges with its junior counterparts.

Mrs Robson said: "We are trying to play a supportive role in all of this and provide some stability in what can be very upsetting and changing circumstances."

Firth Moor is being redeveloped over five years in a project initiated by Darlington Borough Council, the Firth Moor Community Partnership and the Darlington Partnership.

Work started in May to demolish 350 houses, which will be replaced with a mix of council, private and housing association homes.