CLASSROOMS around Northwich were transformed into fairytale sets last week when pupils dressed up to discover the magic of reading.

The town's youngsters were given the freedom to dress up as their favourite literary characters for World Book Day, on March 1.

And as well as getting the chance to ditch their school uniforms, pupils were given £1 book tokens to spend on one of four special books or any book costing £1.80 or more.

Scores of little Harry Potters and Bob the Builders were spotted running around the playground at Little Leigh Primary School, where every child and teacher wore fancy dress.

At Rosebank Special School each class dressed up as the characters from a book and then performed the stories for the rest of the school during morning assembly.

Headteacher Chris Newhall said: "The performances were a great success and the children really enjoyed them."

In the afternoon it was the teachers' turn to dress up as they brought some of the children's favourite books to life.

And children at Lostock Gralam Primary School World Book Day marked the start of their five week long sponsored readathon to raise funds for Barnados.

They also made a big book of reviews to go in to the school's library to help other pupils pick out a good read.

WH Smith took reading matters into their own hands with a special happy hour at the Northwich branch on Saturday.

Children were given the chance to take part in a number of activities including story telling and a Harry Potter fancy dress competition.