Students at an academy have formed an anti-bullying council to provide support to their peers.

Six year nine students from Maltings Academy, in Maltings Lane, Witham, came together to create the new focused team.

The anti-bullying ambassadors will now look into encouraging students to report concerns and offering alternative forms of reporting incidents.

Mark Skinner, head of year nine, said: "Of course, they can speak with their teachers, but the ambassadors want to be able to offer alternative, anonymous ways to report problems that they also feel comfortable with.

“The focus is not just on preventing bullying in school, but looking at the problems young people face online.

“They are meeting with the whole school student council to discuss their ideas.

"It is giving them some responsibility and it is great to see them so caring of others.”

Head of academy Emma Baker said the school had a wide range of strategies in place to deal with bullying.

She said: "The year 9 students felt it would be beneficial to involve students at an early stage, so they are consulting with their peers and staff as to what approaches would work.

"For example, they are thinking about how they can incorporate technology.

“It’s great to see the students involved and raising awareness.”