YOUNGSTERS at an East Lancashire high school have been showing they 'wheelie' care about recycling.

Students at Darwen Vale High School have being turning former pushbike parts into eye-catching sculptures and setting them up in the school playground for all to see.

The school ran the six week project with Blackburn-based community interest company Cycle Roots.

The company runs environmental programmes across East-Lancashire and works with young people who are long-term unemployed, youth offenders as well as working with schools.

Dave Smalley, the teacher running the project, said: "As part of the timetable this year, the students have enrichment time weekly, which takes up two lessons.

"In this time, they are encouraged to take part in community based activities.

"We got in touch with Cycle Roots as it fitted in well with our environmental based activities that the children take part in.

"We wanted the children to engage in the importance of recycling and at the same time, support the group as well as doing something to benefit the school and the wider community.

"The students worked very hard is designing their sculptures."

The Year 10 pupils have created six different sculptures, which were unveiled at a special event at the school.

Emma McNally, from Cycle Roots, said: "We were contacted by the school and discussed ideas of what to do with recycled push bikes.

"There were 30 pupils in each group taking park and we decided that they would make six different sculptures from our recycled pushbikes.

"It is important that children are encouraged to do things like this because it teaches them about the importance of recycling.

"Instead of the products going to waste, they were able to use what we had to create something new from recycled material.

"They have all worked really hard on the pieces."