Ref. 28058-10GIANT letters are helping nursery children get to grips with language with their own version of the Big Read.

The colourful plastic letters, which are nearly 1metre high, are introducing youngsters at Wroughton's Ridgeway Nursery to the alphabet.

The national Big Read campaign is encouraging adults to read literature classics by voting for the nation's favourite book, but these letters are more simple for younger children.

The toys were the brainchild of nursery manager Theresa Burch who wanted a fun way to help children learn.

She asked a friend, furniture maker Glenn Brown, if he would put her ideas into practice, and the results are proving to be very popular.

Glenn, whose firm Cottage Pine is based at the Bassett Down Workshops in Salthrop near Wroughton, has now sold sets of the toys to several other nurseries.

Besides making letters, he has produced figures and a selection of shapes.

Theresa said: "So far we have only got the letters A to G at Ridgeway, but the children love them.

"They're great because we can play games with them outside. We ask the children to run towards certain letters and numbers, it's fun and helps them learn.

"I came up with the idea because we wanted something simple which would be fun."

Although Glenn usually makes furniture, he enjoyed the challenge of producing something different.

He said: "It was interesting to have to make something different.

"The toys are popular, and I have had orders from three other nurseries."