An author recently set pupils at The King’s School the challenge of writing a Christmas ghost story in just 250 words.

Patron of reading at the Wrexham Road independent school Jon Mayhew, who used to write a ghost story every Christmas for his pupils at Eton, set the project to be inspired by the classic story writer M R James.

The library provided a fittingly spooky, Christmas atmosphere and many pupils enjoyed the scary stories throughout their lunch hour.

The winner was Freya Walsh, whose story about a ghostly hitchhiker won her a £10 book token.

Max Williams and Freya Ainsworth were selected as the runners-up.

Anna Devoy was awarded with a specially dedicated copy of Jon’s short story, The Maiden Aunt, for her dramatic and chilling reading of her story.

The challenge was also open to junior school pupils and Bram Lucas’s story about haunted dolls was selected as the J4 winner.