YOUNGSTERS at Hermitage Primary School enjoyed a story-tastic time earlier this month, as they came together to mark World Book Day.

Pupils and staff threw themselves into celebrations for the event and dressed up as their favourite story characters for the occasion.

In the build-up, they designed a town book trail. The initiative enabled them to promote local, community businesses including: the Ginger Breadman, Artist Patisserie, the Scandanavian Shop, the Flower Shop, Helensburgh Eyecare, WH Smith and 2020 Opticians.

Also involved were Fabric and Finery, Helensburgh Cycles, Tweedie, Debra UK, Oxfam, Nature's Harvest, The Pet Shop, Keys Galore, Laura Kate and Wright's.

The school has also developed a partnership with the Book Nook, based at Helensburgh Community Hub, which sees children rewarded with a book token when they handed in their completed book trail.

A spokesperson for Hermitage Primary School commented: "Developing a reading culture within our school is always a top priority so we made the most of celebrating reading.

"As a school community, we really enjoyed celebrating World Book Day by dressing up as our favourite book characters, taking part in fun book related activities and a whole school assembly all about the joy and importance of reading and taking part in a global event."