It's as if Ancient Romans have visited to give one lucky school a fabulous makeover, as pupils have created their own masterpiece.

Hundreds of bottle tops have been transformed into a stunning mosaic flooded with colour, which hangs at Whitehaven's Mayfield School, all to raise awareness of how the planet is affected by pollution and discarded rubbish.

Depicting the students' hopes for the future of the environment, youngsters throughout the school were raring to create the piece after learning about the shocking effect of plastic being dumped in the world's oceans.

Michelle Diamond, staff member and proud project leader, said: "After the students learned about the devastating effects of plastic pollution they wanted to incorporate recycling into our work of art to highlight this important message.

"They have all worked incredibly hard on this project and have been involved with all stages of the process from collection of the plastic bottle tops to producing designs and creating the pictures.''

She added: "I would like to thank Canon UK for the donation of materials, and everyone who handed over their bottle tops.''

A video featuring the students as they created the artwork has also been produced, and was showcased to the school earlier this week.

The project started last November, after the pupils took part in helping to create Driggsby – A Whale Tale Book, organised by a local arts group, and was finally completed this month following the school's lockdown.

It will form part of the school's application towards an Arts Mark Award.

Headteacher Sam Kidd said: "We are very proud of such a stunning piece of work made by our pupils.

"It is both visually arresting and conveys an important message about the plight of our planet.

"Well done to Michelle and all of those involved for their dedication and creativity!"