FREE books have been handed out to students at Dartmouth Acade­my.

Dartmouth Comm­un­ity Bookshop help­ed celebrate World Book Day by taking copies of books specially produced for the event to the school.

Bookshop volunteer Kathy Stansfield spent all morning at the academy giving out more than 350 free books to pupils, from tots to teenagers.

'The bookshop buys the books and gives them away free in return for vouchers', she said.

'The event is sponsored by National Book Tokens and new titles are produced each year aimed at different age groups.

'It was great fun to be at the academy this year.

'Previously pupils have come down to the bookshop.

'Supporting World Book Day is one of the ways the community bookshop helps encourage reading amongst children.'

There were 10 books to choose from. Holly Smale's Geek Girl and Michael Morpurgo's Best Mates were very popular amongst older pupils and Steven Butler's Dennis the Menace and Chris Riddell's Goth Girl flew off the table, she said. Younger pupils loved Daisy Meadows' Magic Animal Friends and David McKee's Elmer's Parade.

The books are available at the bookshop free in return for vouchers until the end of March, after which they will cost £1 each.

'Supporting World Book Day is one of the ways the community bookshop helps encourage reading amongst children,' added Kathy.

The event is in its 18th year and is the biggest celebration of its kind, designated by Unesco as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and marked in over 100 countries all over the world.