YOUNGSTERS who took part in National Poetry Day discovered it was anything but a load of hot air.

About 160 children set off helium balloons at four of the borough's libraries, each bearing a poem and the name of the sender.

And their literary efforts were appreciated by people who found the balloons tens of miles away.

At Bury library, prizes were given to the children whose balloons travelled the furthest.

There were four winners. Samantha Donald's balloon, set off at Prestwich library, was discovered at Watergrove, near Todmorden, by a woman out horse-riding.

Katie Cooper's balloon travelled the furthest of all, from Unsworth to Driffield, near Scarborough, picked up by a dog-walker.

Jordan Moss set off his balloon from Bury library, and it reached Malton in North Yorkshire.

Meanwhile, the person who found Charlotte Loftus's balloon in Beckwithshawe, near Harrogate, phoned Ramsbottom to say they enjoyed her poem.

Balloons were also sighted by a police dog handler on a training exercise in Halifax, on the hard shoulder of the M62 by a driver in a traffic jam, and up a pear tree in Prestwich!

Councillor Siobhan Costello, arts and culture spokesman, said she was grateful to those who made contact after finding the balloons.

"I think staff have enjoyed receiving the phone calls to say where the balloons ended up almost as much as the children enjoyed setting them loose," she said.