GAZETTE & HERALD: ENTHUSIASTIC young recyclers were left red faced when they dumped project work along with scrap paper in their school paper bank.

Children at the Stanton St Quintin primary school were so keen on recycling that they did not realise they had scooped up handwriting and drawing books belonging to the school's youngest newcomers.

Head Rob Parsons and his tallest teacher had tried to retrieve the books with little success when Wiltshire County Council contracts monitoring officer John Fox solved the problem.

"I was visiting the school on a project checking grid references. When I realised their dilemma I popped down the road to our household recycling centre and picked up the key for the paper bank," he said.

Children and staff were delighted to retrieve the missing work.

"He was like our knight in shining armour. The children who had mistakenly put the project work in the bin had been really shocked they are so keen on recycling," said Mr Parsons.

The school has environmental awareness at the top of the agenda.

Not only does it have a paper bank which it has encouraged the whole village community to use, but it also makes its own compost, using the apple cores left over from the children's five-a-day fruit campaign.

The compost is then used by the children's gardening club in tending the vegetable and flower plots at the 123-pupil school.

The school also recycles mobile phones, ink cartridges and even school uniforms. Items that have been outgrown are sent to a school in Kenya.

"The children are very aware of environmental issues and they are keen on doing their own little bit to help preserve the planet," said Mr Parsons.

Wiltshire County Council waste manager Mike Wood said the children were setting a great example to everyone.

"It is great to see young children so committed to such an important issue as recycling. We really want everyone to think hard about the rubbish they create and the ways we can deal it. The pupils at Stanton seem to be doing just that," he said.

The paper bank is just one of more than 400 neighbourhood recycling facilities across the county.

Others are sited everywhere from pubs to town centre car parks.

The county also has ten recycling centres where the public can take a wider range of recyclable materials such as plastic bottles, and bulkier items such as fridges.

Wiltshire currently recycles around 27 per cent of its household waste and is one of the top authorities nationwide for its efforts.