A TEAM of ten tradespeople from Dorset have helped a Nepalese school which was affected by the country's devastating earthquake.

Poole-based building control consultancy MC Plan and Site Services sponsored the team, which flew into Kathmandu.

They arrived at the school, in the Nuwakot district, following a five hour bus trip.

Once on site the team got started on wiring up eight classrooms, built a toilet block, erected a safety fence to protect children from a sheer edge and provided a safe play area for the youngsters.

All classrooms were painted, a handrail was erected on the steep steps to the school and carpets were fitted in the nursery, kindergarten and the school office areas.

Helen Cook, director of MC Plan and Site Services said: "I’d forgotten about the utter chaos of Kathmandu and the traffic.

"What an experience of utter madness in the city centre.

"To see the joy and smiles on the children’s faces was the best feeling ever.

“For each and every one of us this is most definitely an experience that will stay in our hearts forever.”

Nearly 9,000 people were killed and some 22,000 injured when the very strong earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.8, struck between the capital Kathmandu and Pokhara in the morning of April 25, 2015.

Tremors were felt in nearby countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and India.

A second earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.3, hit eastern Nepal, close to Mount Everest, on May 12.

Many of the country's historic sites were severely damaged, including a number of temples and monuments.

The country is still getting back on its feet, so November's mercy mission by the MC Plan and Site Services team was well received.

Helen said: "The school principal described it as a dream.

"We were treated to a true Nepalese ceremony for the community to express their gratitude to us and we were sad to leave, although not to say goodbye to the cockerel who woke us regularly throughout each night."

The volunteers were Mark and Helen Cook and Ben Oxland from MC Plan and Site Services; Alexandra Eaton, AE Marketing Solutions; Chris Cowley, Chris Cowley Interior/Exterior Decorating; Kenny Tucknott, Sunseeker, Poole; Penny King, Planning Precision Bournemouth: Adam Ayling, Griffiths and May Carpets and Flooring; Michael Fraser, Plasterer and general builder; Tim Collier, Lilliput Electrical Ltd.