VELOCIRAPTORS, ankylosaurus, stegosaurus and baryonyx all came very much to life ifor a group of Bolton schoolchildren.

Year Three pupils from Devonshire Road Primary School stared in awe as the life-size animatronic models moved, roared and spat just like the real thing.

The youngsters, along with teachers Christine Mason and Carol Rafferty, had won a Bolton Evening News competition last year and the tour of Manchester's Science and Industry Museum's extraordinary dinosaur display was part of their prize.

The class of 31 seven and eight year olds started the day with a viewing of a 3D film at the IMAX centre, then after a lunch of dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets they ventured into the dinosaurs' lair, before moving on to a workshop to create their own fossils.

The 10 giant prehistoric monsters arrived in January after a long journey from America and are now the museum's main attraction. They are fully animatronic, activated through compressed air and are the only models of their type in this country.

The children's faces lit up as they were greeted with the frighteningly realistic roar of the euoplocephalus and the eerie stare of the velociraptor.

Sam Kelly, aged seven, has a natural passion for the monsters. He said: "I love dinosaurs. These weren't scary -- real ones would be if they came back though."

Natasha Burgess, aged eight, said: "The meat eaters were my favourite, like the one eating another smaller dinosaur."

The dinosaurs are set in an authentic desert-like scene within the museum's special exhibition gallery, which is used for various large-scale exhibits such as this.

Philip Fletcher, aged eight, has been to other exhibitions at the centre. He said: "I went to see the bugs show last year, but this one is much better."

The children's teacher, Mrs Mason said: "Dinosaurs and prehistoric monsters are not usually part of our curriculum, but this is a special treat and they have been very excited about it. It is very impressive and we hope to follow up the trip back at school."

The exhibition is open to the public until June 9 and has attracted hordes or visitors since it opened earlier this month. For more information contact the museum on 0161 832 2244.