HAVE YOU heard the joke about the five children who went to a first aiders final competition and came back as adoptive "parents" of a meerkat?For a group of Causton Junior School children in Felixstowe it is not a joke because although they did not win the St John's competition they came first in a quiz where the prize was to adopt a meerkat.

YOUNG first aiders taking part in a national competition came home with a top prize – but not the one they were expecting.

Five pupils from Causton Junior School in Felixstowe travelled to London Zoo to face teams from all over the country in the final of the St John's First Aid Competition.

They didn't end up as winners, but as part of the day also took part in a quiz to test their knowledge about animals and the zoo . . . and won a meerkat instead.

However, the creature did not return to the school in Maidstone Road with the youngsters. It remains at the zoo and is adopted by the school for a year.

For the school to have actually paid to adopt the alert and dark eyed creature usually found on its back legs sniffing and looking to see what is happening, it would have had to have paid £350.

The odd looking furry creature has been named Stumpy by the children at the school because it has part of its tail missing.

Paul Rooney, head at the school on Maidstone Road, said it was an unusual outcome to the day but congratulated the first aid team for their achievements this year.

Scott Bareham, Bethany Tayler , Kathryn Simpson, Laura Fisher and Hayley Kerr, all 11-year-olds, took part in the national final, which they qualified for after winning the eastern round.

They had to show judges how well they could react to situations involving heart attack victims, people writhing in pain with fractured bones and people who were choking.