PUPILS at Preshute School, in Manton, near Marlborough, have a new seating area in the school grounds.

It is thanks to the craftsmanship of visitors from The Gambia who are spending a month in Marlborough.

The playground at the village school in Manton has been undergoing a transformation over the last couple of years funded by the Preshute School Association.

It aims to make the best of the cramped outside facilities.

The final touch was the provision of the seating area or "kachadula" in the Gambian language Mandinka for the children to use at playtimes or during outdoor lessons.

On Monday some of the group of Gambians, from Marlborough's link town of Gunjur, formally handed over the seating area to the school.

Former mayor Joyce White, who is chairman of the Preshute School governors and a member of the Marlborough Brandt Group which organises the links with The Gambia, said the area made good use of a formerly disused corner of the playground.

"We were delighted to have the Gambians do this as a permanent memorial to their 2002 summer visit to Marlborough," she said.

Advice and help was given to the working team by local builder Alan Lance who has been involved with the Brandt Group for many years and has helped build schools in Gunjur.