A LIBRARY is giving youngsters the chance to learn what life was like as an evacuee during the Second World War.

The free three-day event at Durham's Clayport Library, Millennium Place, Claypath, is part of Durham County Council's celebrations to mark the 60th anniversary of the war's end.

The workshop sessions, taken by historian Jane Pegram, will offer a range of wartime experiences.

Ms Pegram's grandparents moved to a small hamlet near Rothbury, in Northumberland, during the war and had a number of evacuees staying with them.

"The stories they told me left a lasting impression of the upheaval to their home lives that these young children suffered," said Ms Pegram, who runs courses on researching family history using the Internet.

Places on the family learning event are limited and are open to children aged eight and over accompanied by a parent or carer.

The sessions will be on Monday, August 15, and Tuesday, August 16, between 2pm and 4pm, and there will be a coach trip on Wednesday, August 17, leaving the library at 2.30pm.

Free tickets for the event are available from the library's reference, family and local studies section.