SHOPPERS and office workers in Manchester city centre have been treated to screenings of three short films created by Bolton students.

As part of a Festival of Local Film, the BBC's big screen in Exchange Square beamed three six-minute-long films made by Turton High School students four times every day for a week.

A total of 23 Year Seven students made the films with the help of three different video artists who went into school to work with them. Year Ten students Chris Atty and Jackson Treggiden lent assistance, and the festival judges were so impressed by Chris's editing that he was nominated for a special award.

One of the films was based on the classic tale of Alice in Wonderland, and featured a student falling asleep in class and going into a fantasy dream sequence. The second was an animated film of clay Plasticine models.

The third film, Curse of the Ring, was loosely based on Lord of the Rings. It featured a ring with magical powers, able to turn bullies into "geeks" and vice versa.

The special screening in the city centre was part of the Step Up Festival.

Teacher Jane Sweetlove said the youngsters had created the films during three video workshops.

She added: "The students spent between 10 and 12 hours on each film, and did lots of work after school."