BOOKWORMS at a Blackpool junior school have been getting to grips with a futuristic thumbprint scanner in their new library.

Pupils at Stanley Junior School have been learning how to use the new scanner, which recognises each child from their thumbprint -- making library cards a thing of the past!

The high-tech system is part of the Wordsworth Avenue school's new library, which opened last month as a tribute to the school's late head teacher Peter Higgins. Librarian Barbara Prescott said pupils were "very excited" about the new library and thumbprint scanner, and teacher and library manager Rachel Hinchcliffe described it as "an exciting development" and "a fitting tribute to Mr Higgins.