REFUGEES from Syria and Sudan visited a school to tell students of their 'inspiring' journey from the Middle East to the UK.

More than 100 children listened to Syrian refugee Mohammed Alobayed and Sudanese refugee Musab Ali, who are both in their 20s, who spoke about their 'shocking' experiences at St Paul's RC Primary School, in Preston Old Road, Feniscowles on Friday.

The two refugees were invited to the primary school after headteacher Gary Foster, and eight of the school's students, first heard Mohammed's inspiring story during a Caritas Diocese of Salford training event at Salford Cathedral.

Mohammed, spoke about his 2,800 mile journey from Syria to the UK where he passed through Greece, Macedonia, Croatia, Germany and the Calais jungle in two months.

More than a million migrants and refugees crossed into Europe in 2015, in an attempt to escape war-torn Syria, sparking a crisis as countries struggled to cope with the influx.

It created division amongst the 26 EU countries over how best to deal with resettling people.

The 24-year-old refugee was forced to swim non-stop for nine hours at night across the Aegean Sea, a part of Mediterranean Sea lying between Turkey and Greece, to reach the Greek border.

Musab, who had to travel from Sudan to Egypt, was one of 500 people who was crammed into a boat, believed to be no more than the size of a typical classroom, to get from Egypt to the coast of Italy.

The man in his 20s travelled through Italy to the Calais jungle in Calais before heading to the UK underneath a lorry, situated in between the vehicle's wheels.

Once the two got their UK visas they were both 'practically homeless' and had to sleep on the street before they were taken in by Cornerstone day centre, an adult support group based in Manchester.

Headteacher Gary Foster said: "These were amazing stories to tell.

"The children were sat in awe of them and every single one of them was listening intently.

"You see it in the news but to see it in person really made the children aware that these people are just human beings who wanted a better life for themselves.

"It's just an inspiring story to tell to people who have made it all the way to East Lancashire."

Bosses at the Preston Old Road Primary School had invited 10 children from year five at Blackburn's St Peters RC Primary School, on Hawkins Street, to listen to the talk.

Lesley Atherton, who is deputy headteacher at the Mill Hill primary school, said: "The speech was really good and very inspiring.

"On the way back I could hear the children in the back of my car saying 'when you say your starving you're not really starving, you're just hungry'.

"It was very thought provoking and reminds us all how lucky we are to have what we have now."