A BEARDED dragon, a corn snake and giant African land snails all made an appearance at a nursery's wild day in.

Kids Inc, in Old Station Road, Loughton, invited animals from Pets Corner, Harlow, down for the day to the delight of its young audience.

The children could hold and pet the animals and also hear about their habitat and diet.

Tiny the giant rabbit proved a particularly popular visitor for the youngsters, who also enjoyed playing with a collection of small chicks.

Nursery manager Katie Bennett said: “They're from a farm in Harlow, but the reason why we wanted them to come down as opposed to going to them is so all the children could join in- even the babies. We had a buffet and party as well so we made it into a whole day.

“They really enjoyed it. They were happy to pet the animals and touch them. It's also good from a health and safety point of view because they learned all about hygiene and washing their hands afterwards.

“It went better than expected because they were all really confident with the animals.”