FEARLESS youngsters in Port Glasgow got to grips with tarantulas and pythons at a special Easter holiday event.

More than 40 local children attended Boglestone Community Centre to see an array of weird and wonderful animals from creepy crawlies to spine-chilling snakes.

The event was the first of its kind at the upper Port venue and part of Inverclyde Leisure’s (IL) packed Easter activity programme.

Exotic animals were provided by William Ewart from Greenock pet shop Proexotics and others on display included an iguana lizard and a tortoise.

It proved a huge favourite with children and staff — although not all the adults were as brave as the children!

Karen Gemmell, Boglestone centre manager, said: “There were 41 kids in total, it was a good turnout. We had quite a lot of parents and guardians there as well and it was a really big success — the kids loved it.

“The tortoise was a big hit and most of the young people held some of the pets — it surprised me. They were scared of nothing but some of my staff wouldn’t touch them!

“If there’s a spider in the house I have to get someone to get it but I held a tarantula.

“It felt actually quite nice.” Boglestone was one of two IL venues to host the exotic pets roadshow, with Ravenscraig Community Centre in Greenock the other.

Karen said: “It was really good here and the kids enjoyed it and from what I have heard Ravenscraig went well too.

“We thought we would try and offer the kids something different and it went very well.” During the school holidays Boglestone has been a hive of activity with other events, including a disco bounce and sports days. The fun comes to an end on Thursday when the children host an Easter bonnet parade from 1.30pm.

See today's Tele for full pictures.