Children with complex needs will reap the benefits of outdoor play, thanks to a £4,000 grant from a supermarket giant.

The Prince of Wales School in Dorchester has announced it has been awarded the funding from Tesco’s Bags of Help community grant scheme.

Bags of Help is run in partnership with environmental charity Groundwork, and sees money raised from the sale of carrier bags awarded to local community projects every year.

Since launching in 2015, it’s provided more than £63 million to over 20,000 local community projects.

Millions of shoppers voted in Tesco stores up and down the country and it has now been revealed the Dorchester school has scooped a whopping £4,000.

Headteacher, Gary Spracklen said the grant has enabled the school to install an inclusive water wall which is suitable for children who use wheelchairs.

"Our school is fully inclusive and strives to provide a stimulating and dynamic environment for all our children," Mr Spracklen said. "We have a number of children at our school who are physically disabled and we are working to improve our outside play areas."

Assistant headteacher Sam Johnson added: "Our children thrive on being outside and we feel strongly as a school that all children

should have the opportunity to play together, regardless of their physical or medical needs. A high number of our children have complex medical needs and are sometimes restricted in what they can do. A facility like this breaks down those barriers and improves the experience for all our children."

Voting ran in stores throughout September and October with customers choosing which local project they would like to get the top award using a token given to them at the checkout.

Alec Brown, Tesco’s Head of Community, said: “Bags of Help has been a fantastic success and we’ve been overwhelmed by the response from customers. It’s such a special scheme because it’s local people who decide how the money will be spent in their community.”

Tesco customers get the chance to vote for three different groups each time they shop. Every other month the votes are collected and three groups in each of Tesco’s regions are awarded funding.