SCORES of Oxford students invented stories in a candlelit library.

Cheney School in Headington challenged 30 of its Year 7 students to design a fictional fantasy story, set in an imaginary world.

The Imagined Worlds Book Slam took place on Friday, with participants first inspired by a talk from author Alan Gibbons.

Children were then led into a darkened library lit with flickering candles, and began brainstorming story ideas to pitch to an editor.

Lorna Robinson, director of the school’s Classics Centre, said: “Each presentation was thoughtfully delivered and demonstrated the enormous amount of work and imagination that had gone into designing each world.”

Students designed a book cover to match their stories, following a workshop by illustrator Danny Flynn.

The winning story was that named The Lonely Cucumber.

Children’s work will be displayed at a festival at the school in February.