A TOP heart research centre in Oxford opened its doors for the day to primary school pupils.

The British Heart Foundation's (BHF) Centre of Regenerative Medicine at Oxford University hosted a tour for pupils from Grafton Primary School in London to help them find out more about the work carried out there.

The Year Six pupils visited on Monday and were taken around the laboratories as well as meeting researchers.

During their visit they saw culture dishes with beating cardiomyocytes- the individual muscle cells which make up the heart- and learned how scientists are looking for new treatments to repair the damage caused by a heart attack.

The visit was organised by Dr Cristina Villa del Campo, a researcher at the centre.

She said: "It was wonderful to show the students the research that takes place here.

"I taught them how to use a microscope and they were able to see some of the heart muscle cells I am growing.

"They were amazed to be able to see them beating in a dish.

"We also did a small experiment looking at how antibiotics work by growing bacteria from different parts of the laboratory.

"I hope we made them feel like real scientists."