You know something unusual is taking place when in the centre of sunny Constantine Dr Who and Captain Jack Sparrow start to battle, while Darth Vader looks on.

However, this is not the scene from a new action movie, but instead imaginative pupils who dressed up for National Bookstart Day this morning.

Youngsters at Constantine Primary School eagerly took on the challenge to dress up as their favourite fictional character, as part of the nation-wide day that is held every year to encourage literacy skills.

Over the course of the morning pupils were split into groups containing all different ages, to carry out activities such as storytelling, making bookmarkers and drawing the character they had dressed as.

They paid £1 to dress up in fancy dress, with the money raised going to Helston-based aid charity ShelterBox.

Money was also raised through the sale of cakes and biscuits at break time - which caused great excitement amongst pupils, who are not normally allowed such sweet treats as Constantine has been given healthy school status.

A spokesperson for the school said: "The pupils love dressing up. Parents and governors have come into help and it's a three-way thing. The children and helpers have enjoyed it, the teachers have got a bit more time and ShelterBox gets the money - you can't lose really."

For more pictures, see next week's Packet.