PUPILS at a Lowestoft middle school were celebrating after being honoured for their commitment to recycling and helping the environment.The green credentials of youngsters and staff at the Foxborough Middle School have been rewarded with a Suffolk-wide honour.

PUPILS at a Lowestoft middle school were celebrating after being honoured for their commitment to recycling and helping the environment.

The green credentials of youngsters and staff at the Foxborough Middle School have been rewarded with a Suffolk-wide honour.

Last month, at a prestigious black tie gala dinner event near Woodbridge, the school won the award for the 'Suffolk - Creating the greenest county awards' in the waste, recycling and purchasing category.

And coming more than seven months after their eco-haven in the school's grounds in Foxborough Road was trashed by callous vandals, this latest honour was testament to the many hours of effort the youngsters have put into their garden.

Recognising groups that are energy efficient, take pride in the Suffolk environment and are committed to reducing waste, the county awards ceremony was held at Wantisden Valley, Woodbridge.

In February, pupils held a zero waste fortnight, when they took leftovers from their lunches home to show their parents what they were not eating, in order to cut out waste.

And for Jerildine Lines, the school's eco-schools co-ordinator, it was a fitting tribute to the youngster's endeavours. 'Myself and another member of staff, Miss Hood, took two of our eco-schools children down to the gala dinner,' Miss Lines said.

'The children who wanted to go to the dinner had to give a presentation to give to the other eco-schools children so they could decide who got to go - they chose Samantha Cross and Lucy Quantrill in year 8 as their champions to attend.' These pupils behaved 'impeccably' according to Miss Lines who added: 'I was truly proud to take them and present them as the ambassadors for our school.'

This award now sits proudly in the school's trophy cabinet, along with a certificate, and Miss Lines added: 'We were also awarded �200 that will go towards rebuilding our trashed eco-garden.'

Suffolk Wildlife Trust's Community Barn Owl Project, which has seen more than 500 nest boxes installed, won the Landscape and Biodiversity category at the Suffolk awards.