CHILDREN'S time-keeping in Cleobury Mortimer is casting a shadow over the community.

Since the summer festival, children have been learning to tell the time by the sun using the shadow of their bodies to mark the minutes on a "clock face".

To celebrate festival year in Cleobury, a human sundial made of marble has been installed on the playing fields next to the primary school.

Children stand on the section marking the month of the year and see their shadow fall on a point giving the time of day.

An inner circle shows British Summer Time and an outer circle, Greenwich Mean Time.

The project was the idea of sponsoring company SHW Containers, of New Road, a family firm that heard about a human sundial in Wem, North Shropshire, which was created to mark the millennium.

Company representative Zella Bache said the Wem organisers put her in touch with an expert in Scotland who designs dials. Each dial, she said, must be tailor made for the location to give accurate times.

"We hope the sundial will give lots of educational fun to future generations of Cleobury Mortimer children," she said.