YOUNGSTERS at a Richmond school are having a wheely good time after a teacher started a unicycling club.

The project was launched at the beginning of the year and now more than 50 pupils join in the weekly sessions. Some are so keen they have even bought their own one-wheeled bikes - and one boy even unicycles to school.

The club has now expanded to include other circus skills including juggling with balls and hoops, diabolos and spinning plates.

Mr Andrew Mollitt, who teaches maths at Richmond lower school, had always had a passion for circus skills and bought a unicycle in France last summer.

Back at school after the holidays, he discovered that one pupil, Robert Foyle, already had one and regularly used it to get from his home at Gilling West to school.

"I started the club hoping to get about 20 students involved and now there are more than 50 each week," said Mr Mollitt. "In all, since the start of the year, up to 80 youngsters have taken part."

The club was set up with a £400 grant from the school trustees, which enabled Mr Mollitt to buy three unicycles.

pupil Linzi Brooks, who celebrated her 12th birthday on Wednesday, is such a fan of the sport she has bought her own unicycle.