Helston town centre is to be replicated in model form as part of a holiday project taking place all next week.

Families are invited to drop in to the CAST building at 3 Penrose Road at any point between 10am and 4pm on Monday through to Friday, to made their own model shop or house out of cardboard.

It is hoped that by the end of the week a large portion of the town centre will have been recreated in the old school hall - with some additions of what people would like to see there in the future.

CAST chair Teresa Gleadowe said: "The Helston Model Town project will look forward as well as back.

"The inclusion of outlying areas such as RNAS Culdrose, Goonhilly Earth Station and Helston’s old railway line opens up avenues for dreaming of future transport systems, space stations - even inter-galactic travel."

The project has been devised primarily for families, in the hope that children can enjoy their parents’ or grandparents’ memories whilst creating a vision of their own future.

Anyone can join in, with no charge, and there is no lower age limit, although children under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

It is being run by Lucy Grant, who grew up in Helston before leaving to study fine art printmaking.

She returned to Cornwall 2007 and has fond memories of the town, saying: "Helston has changed a great deal since my childhood and my generation recall fondly the various and characterful shops and shopkeepers in the town, such as Eddy’s for toys, with their display train set, Mrs Williams’s ‘Yellow Shop’ on Church Street where we’d buy comics and sweets, Dingles, Gilberts, Woolworths and Walkers the Chemist - ideal for special birthday bubble bath."

Helston Museum has provided a wealth of historical reference for the project and is currently showing a new exhibition about the old Helston railway.

After making their model, visitors can experience the history of the town with a trail round the museum, then take part in the ‘Helston Town Trail’ to discover and explore places of interest today.