School pupils across the county are waiting for news from the front line to find out who has won an art competition.
They’ve been working away on pictures to give to troops to hang up in their tents in Afghanistan, all created with the theme What I Like Most About Christmas.
Their efforts were presented to RSM Graham Miller of 254 Medical Regiment at County Hall, ready to be transported to the Middle East where troops at Camp Bastion will judge which ones they like most.
The top prize for the school of the winning pupil is a new laptop computer, while there will also be book tokens for the creators of the 10 paintings which the troops single out as their favourites.
Sgt Millersaid: “I know from experience on the front line how much messages of encouragement like this means to the troops. Seeing all the work put into this competition by so many children makes it hard to choose a winner because I know to the service personnel all of these are winners.”