RADIO presenter Simon Mayo paid a visit to Nunnery Wood High School to talk about his new book.

Year 8 pupils from the school were read an extract from ItchCraft, before Mr Mayo gave a talk in Nunnery Wood's new theatre.

Students from Year 7, as well as pupils from Red Hill CofE Primary, Whittington CofE Primary, Pershore High, The Chantry, The Chase and Christopher Whitehead, packed into the theatre to listen to Mr Mayo.

Librarian Jenny Bennett said the visit today (Weds 1) was a "fantastic" experience.

She said: "It was the first school he's been to since the launch of the new book and he said it was the most amazing event he's been to - including festivals.

"We're absolutely delighted to hear that and it was fantastic.

"Simon said it's the best school he's been to and we've set the bar high for the rest of the tour.

"The kids loved it."

Mr Mayo spoke about how he came up with ideas for his stories and read some extracts from his new novel, and afterwards spent time signing copies of his books for the pupils.

ItchCraft is the third book about science-mad 'element hunter' Itchingham Lofte.

The idea for the novels came about when Mr Mayo made up a short story to entertain his son Joe, who was 10 at the time.

This escalated from what he thought would be a couple of sides of A4 to a 400-page novel.

Ahead of his visit to Nunnery Wood, Year 7 and 8 pupils studied his first novel Itch, while the science department ran a competition.

Mr Mayo has worked for BBC Radio since 1981.

He currently presents Simon Mayo Drivetime on Radio 2 and Kermode and Mayo's Film Review - alongside film critic Mark Kermode - on Radio 5 Live.