AN OUTDOOR poetry slam brought miles of smiles to the faces of lots of tots.

Cheltenham Poetry Festival's first Poetree in the Park was a hit as Cheltenham-based improvisation comedy group Off The Cuff entertained the 40 youngsters who joined the fun at the tea hut in Pittville Park.

Comedy pair Barnaby Eaton-Jones and Joy-Amy Wigman did some improvised poetry based on the children's suggestions as they yelled out subjects such as chocolate, Scarborough and spaghetti.

There was also a Poetry Dragon workshop, run by Sarah Pym, in which the children created colourful paper dragons and wrote lines of poetry on them.

Poetry festival director Anna Saunders said: "We had a fantastic time with lots of fun in the sun. It was a really good turnout."