SCHOOL staff were stunned when a group of farmers donated a top of the range wood chipper to the school to help students study horticulture.

Staff from Westhaven School in Uphill, which is a special educational needs school, were shopping at Banwell Machinery when they spotted the chippers.

They made a passing comment that they needed a chipper for the pupils’ studies but were unable to afford one.

Then weeks later, out of the blue, the school received a phone call from Weston and Banwell Young Farmers to say that they had raised money to donate a wood chipper to the school.

It means the students can use the machine to gain their City and Guilds diploma in horticulture skills.

The �850 chipper was formally given to the school last week during a GCSE awards ceremony for school leavers.

Wendy Vincent, a teacher at the school, said: “We were stunned and absolutely thrilled. It’s a wonderful piece of machinery.”