A CHOCOLATE factory visit was a sweet surprise for an Inverclyde school girl.

Chloe Swinney, 15, from Greenock, was delighted to go behind the scenes at The New Chocolate Company headquarters in Port Glasgow.

The Craigmarloch School pupil was invited along by chocolatier Brian Dick, who runs the Kelburn Business Park confectionery firm with wife Joanne, after discovering the teenager's passion for chocolate and art.

Chloe was given a tour of the factory and then had the chance to put her design skills to the test by helping to produce the company's range of Valentine's sweet treats.

She said: "It's really nice the fact that Brian let me come down and do this. "I like chocolate and doing different things with it and I love art so it's a really nice fit."

The S3 pupil also decorated her very own bar of chocolate to take home along with a souvenir apron.

Brian said: "I was at the school Christmas fayre and bumped into Chloe, who expressed an interest in chocolate and has a real passion for art, so I invited her down to see how things are made.

"Being a local chocolate enthusiast, we were delighted to welcome her along."