School pupils shrugged off their gut reaction to get up close and personal with a variety of creepy crawlies.

The youngsters at South Craven School in Cross Hills were introduced to a range of exotic specimens by ‘Bugman’ Martin Rapley, who met year seven pupils last Wednesday.

A school spokesman said: “Martin had been invited into school to talk about insects and reptiles and arrived with boxes of them to illustrate his talk, which was held in the Fells area and filmed and projected onto the large screen.

“With close-ups of the insects, the students were able to see them clearly, and within minutes were eager to volunteer to hold them.

“Cockroaches, stick insects, a millipede, a scorpion and a Mexican tarantula seemed to present no problem to the students, who were quite happy to have them on their shoulders.

“Perhaps the fact the tarantula didn’t seem to run as quickly as the native variety made it easier to handle. Lucy, the tarantula, who is 30 years old, behaved impeccably.”

Later that day, Mr Rapley also delivered a presentation to sixth form biology students, and talked about both warm-blooded and cold-blooded animals.