PUPILS at a Ryedale primary school were over the moon when they learned that they had won a major award in a country-wide wildlife competition.

Stillington Primary School won third prize in their category of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust - Yorkshire Electricity Conservation Awards 2001. Their winning entry featured a wildflower meadow next to the wildlife pond which the school has adopted and been working on since 1993.

Elizabeth Cole, a pupil support worker at the school, said: "They set out to discover which wild flowers used to grow there, but don't now, and to find out which flowers grow locally on similar ground."

They also collected seed from roadside plants, and the gardens of friends, family and neighbours. Plants were then grown from the seed, at the school, then planted out by the pond later.

A commemorative certificate and cheque for £100 was presented to the school by Kevin Rodgers, community affairs officer for Yorkshire Electricity.

Updated: 12:16 Thursday, February 14, 2002