Last updated 09:45, Monday, 14 July 2008

Shirts, ties and sensible shoes were cast aside and glamorous gowns, tuxedos and bow ties were excitedly donned when pupils from schools in north and west Cumbria held their end of year proms.

Newman RC School Sixth Form's Lauren Henderson (left) and Nicole Brown

• Slideshow: Prom nights 2008

The proms - popular in the USA for many years - marked rites of passage for the Year 11 pupils at Stainburn School and Southfield Technology College, who have all just finished their GCSE exams.

Some will be leaving school for jobs or college, while others will be returning for sixth form studies with a view to going to university - but all will remember their glamorous night when they had a chance to see each other as never before.

Both schools held their proms at the town’s Hunday Manor Hotel, but on separate nights last week and were just two of the schools throughout the county who are now adopting the American ritual as an established part of school life.