A WINCHESTER school hoped to have a week of activities to encourage reading and a love of books.

But Winnall Primary School ended up staging it over a second week after the snow disrupted World Book Day last Friday.

Year 6 teacher Vicky Gunning said the school on Garbett Road had decided to have a bigger event than just a day and so there had been several events last week.

Around 60 parents had taken part in ‘Snuggle up with a Book’ in the main hall and on Tuesday local bookshop P&G Wells staged a bookfair.

There was a book exchange, where pupils swapped titles, on Wednesday.

The World Book Day event was held on Monday and 170 children dressed up as their favourite fictional characters.

There were lots of Harry Potters and Hermiones, a Wally or two, Alice in Wonderland, the Mad Hatter, Matilda, Dennis the Menace, Fantastic Mr Fox, the Lone Ranger, Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, the tiger who came to tea, Superman and even Tin Tin.

Ms Gunning said: “There was lots of imagination, lots of home made costumes rather than just bought from Tesco.”

Ms Gunning said the parent teacher association, the Friends of Winnall Primary, had bought every pupil a book to mark the day.

“We haven’t done a book week for several years. The children were very engaged and been very keen to join in. The parents have been very supportive,” said Ms Gunning.