Some smart thinking has got Exley Head Playgroup a new climbing frame.

Each child got to scoff a tube of Smarties to make way for enough 20p pieces to fill it.

The amount collected (each tube contains £13) came to £147 -- enough to replace their old wooden climbing frame with a new one.

Some safety play mats to put beneath the climbing frame and inside have also been purchased.

The playgroup's next fundraising target is some basic computer equipment.

The playgroup, which meets at Exley Head Methodist Church, is open to children aged 2 and over.

It meets on Tuesday to Friday, from 9.25-11.30am. Grant funding is available for children aged three and four from the term following their third birthday.

Unfunded children pay £2.50 per session.

For further details contact Pat Frearson on 07940 034815.

Children from the playgroup are pictured trying out the new equipment bought with money from the Smartie-tube collection.

They are, from left, Ben Benfield, Natasha Wrathall, Victoria Birdsall, Kelsey Raper and Jack Keighley.