A pair of dinosaurs have been wandering the streets of Newton Aycliffe bringing joy to residents with their capers.
Today we reveal the faces behind the masks – two sixth form students who decided to brighten up their town.
Kayla McGuire, 17, and Lana Bennett, 16, were seen and recorded, walking around Aycliffe on Bank Holiday Monday.
The videos of them went viral and it wasn’t long before they were invited to be mascots outside the Woodham Pizzeria.
Facebook video Courtesy of Heather Haddock
Kayla said: “It was a spur of the moment thing. It was so random when we decided to buy the dinosaur costumes.
“The town was closed down on the Bank Holiday, so we decided to have a runaround and cheer people up.
“It was amazing for kids. So many kids had fun and were laughing.
“We went around the Woodham area and up Cobbler’s Hall and back. We must have been out for a couple of hours.”
She added: “As a result we were asked to be mascots at Woodham Pizzeria, where I used to work.
“They found out it was me and my friend in the costumes and asked us if they could hire us for an hour or two.”
Lana said: “We just wanted to do something funny for April Fool’s Day and make people smile. We saw these costumes and decided to buy them.
“We managed to spread so much positivity. We didn’t expect it to go viral and when we got home we saw it was all over Anything Aycliffe Facebook page.
Kayla and Lana, who are both students at Darlington’s Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, brought cheers to passers-by on Friday night – handing out sweets that had bought for the occasion.
Woodham Pizzeria owner Mohamed Ali Bahar I saw them on the Anything Aycliffe Facebook page and was reading through the comments and recognised Kayla's name. She used to work for us.
"So I contacted her and said what you are doing is amazing and invited her and Lana to come and be a mascot for an hour. 
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"I paid them for the hour and gave them some food. A win win for everyone really. |People were driving past beeping their horns and waving. To the joy of people, just out of the blue."
Mr Bahar hopes to do it again. "As my business grows and evolves and am all for supporting the local community," he said.
The girls also spent time at his Bengal Lounge.
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