PUPILS from Clitheroe Royal Grammar School have launched a company making animal-shaped backpacks for young children.

The group of innovative 15 and 16-year-old students set up their own business called The Adventure Buddy Company.

The company is an affiliate of the school’s Young Enterprise project, a charity programme which provides young people with the chance to gain real life experience in the world of business.

And the intrepid teens made the most of the task, creating colourful bags featuring animals and creatures including monkeys, penguins, dogs and bees.

Lucy Makepeace, secretary at the Adventure Buddy Company, said: “As our product we designed a child’s recreational backpack in the shape of an animal, filled with reusable items to educate and entertain a young boy or girl aged five to ten at any time and in any place, especially while travelling.

“The combination of the exotic animal-shaped backpack and its contents, which can be used individually or with a friend, make the Adventure Buddy a reusable, educational and enjoyable childhood companion.

“By selling items that can be used again and again, we hope to evoke a stronger sense of environmental awareness in adults and children from the local and wider community.”

The bags, priced £18, will be on sale at Accrington Market Hall tomorrow from 9am-3pm.

They are also available by contacting the school on 01200 423379.