IT might not be unusual for parents to put up with some extra mess and untidiness when their children return from university.

But Lesley and Michael McDevitt have seen their living room completely transformed by daughter Hannah.

For the art student has borrowed the couple's room and sent it back in time to the First World War as part of a project for her studies - leaving it full of newspapers and smelling of cabbage!

Hannah McDevitt, of Colne Road, Reedley, took inspiration for the unusual 'art installation' idea from a book she read at school.

A former Habergham High School pupil, Hannah turned her attention to art when she secured a place at Loughborough University to study a BA in Fine Arts Sculpture.

Hannah's willing parents, Lesley, 51, a practice nurse, and Michael, 52, a local doctor and Burnley FC's club doctor, allowed their determined daughter to transform their room into what she has called 'The Darkness Out There'.

The theme, taken from the Penelope Lively story, details the life of an elderly lady who lost her husband in the war.

The 20-year-old student said: "My parents have been fantastic in allowing me to go to such extremes for my project."

Lesley, a former art student herself, added: "Some people think we must be mad, but Hannah has put so much work into this. It has taken her around three weeks to conduct her research, buy her props and create the room.

"She has shown real dedication throughout the whole project and not only has she learned a lot from it, we all have."

Hannah used local people's stories to make a tape recording of life during the war and also visited museums and charity shops to create the right atmosphere for the project to make it feel real.

Hannah is in the process of filming the installation, which she will take back to tutors for them to assess.