EIGHTY new houses have sprung up in Blackburn's town centre...and they've all been designed by three and four year olds!

But the new creations, designed by pupils of Kelsall Avenue Nursery School, are proving to be a model of perfection -- because they are made of clay.

The houses, between four and five inches tall and inspired by Spanish architect Gaudi, were created by the youngsters with help from locally-based Dutch artist Marjon Wouda, after they linked up with schools in Spain and Italy.

Now their work, which forms a bid to help the school achieve International School status awarded by the British Council, is on show in the Watercolour Gallery at Blackburn Museum.

Teacher Ros Wilson, said: "It is quite unusual for a nursery school to have international links. You often find those happening more at primary or secondary level, but we're part of Europe now so we try to bring that into everything we do. It's about giving our children and their parents a broader perspective and our parents are very interested in it.

"We invited Marjon to worked in clay with the children and, because of our Spanish connections, she used Gaudi's work as an inspiration. The children created interesting patterns by using lace and netting."

Through the Comenius project, which aims to give us a greater knowledge of the European way of life, the nursery is linked with a secondary school in Lucena, Spain, which lies between Malaga and Cordoba, a nursery school in Pitigliano in southern Tuscany, Italy, and a nursery school in Paesana, near Turin -- and has plans to extend its links to Portugal, Sicily and Malta.

Steve Irwin, Education Officer at Blackburn Museum, said: "Children are naturally very creative and this is a great opportunity for them to show off their work to a wider audience and a great chance for visitors to see what youngsters are capable of."