HUNDREDS of youngsters and their parents are set to explore a popular Worcester park before stepping into what could be termed a virtual world.

Raiders of the Lost Park will involve children, aged from three to six, and their mums and dads being given a digital camera to take pictures of and explore Cripp-legate Park, off Tybridge Street, St John's, just like Indiana Jones.

Then they'll take the cameras to UCW's state-of-the-art drama studio where the captured images will be magnified and projected on to the walls allowing youngsters to step into their own virtual Cripplegate Park. This part of the operation is known as digital shadow-play.

The project has come about thanks to a £5,000 Awards For All grant to the Friends of Cripplegate Park, which has teamed up with C&T, which combines theatre and digital technologies.

Friends' chairman, Linda Sammonds, said: "We have already run several events at the park, including tree decoration and orienteering, but this is our biggest project yet."

The free event will take place during 12 morning and afternoon sessions from Tuesday, August 16, to Wednesday, August 24, and is part of the Worcester Festival.