YOUNGSTERS at a Stockton Heath school were top of the crops after helping out with its own apple harvest.

St Thomas' CE Primary School picks apples from its own orchard with English apple varieties dating back to the 1600s at harvest festival time each year.

The children, teachers and parents helped pick the apples and will turn this year’s crop into apple juice. The juice will then be bottled and sold to raise funds for the next phase of their playground development project.

Headteacher Ian Moss said: "The children love getting involved in these projects, they are excited about the collection and processing of the fruit and how the money raised from the sale of the juice will be used.

"We have had a lovely summer, a spectacular autumn so far and it seemed a fitting celebration of the harvest festival to get everyone involved in picking and using the apples that God has given to all of us. We are all really looking forward to drinking the apple juice once again this year."