PIECES of poetry from youngsters in Nelson are set to be plastered across buses travelling through East Lancashire.

In an echo of the famous sonnets on London’s Underground, verses from pupils at St John Southworth RC Primary will adorn Mainline buses.

The ‘poetry in motion’ initiative is being backed by leading children’s writer Terry Caffrey, who has worked in 2,500 schools and was the North West’s first ‘author/reading champion’.

He joined the children for a brainstorming sessions aboard one of the services.

Terry, who was enlisted by Mid Pennine Arts (MPA) for the expedition, is composing his own missive for the scheme.

He said: “This poetry project has given the children a voice.”

David Smith, MPA spokesman, said, “We’ll publish a selection of the children’s poetry on the panels on the Mainline buses running on routes from Barnoldswick, Trawden and Colne, to Nelson, Burnley and Accrington, Whalley and Clitheroe.

“It’s really exciting. We will be creating a mobile gallery, an anthology called ‘Poems on the Mainline’.

“Each month more than 300,000 passengers will be able to read the children’s work.”

Nigel Eggleton, the bus company’s marketing director, said pupils were able to gain inspiration during their trip from Nelson to Barnoldswick and back, accompanied by their mascot, the Main Lion.

The poems on London’s Underground were created 25 years ago and were the brainchild of American writer and academic Judith Chernaik, from Brooklyn who now lives in the capital.