A Helston father-of-three has been inspired to write his first children’s book after finding he had nothing to read with them from his own work.

So far Terry Lander has written about his attempts to get fit enough to run the London Marathon (Fat Guy Runs a Marathon), two novels, collections of poems and a range of humorous titles amongst his 12 published books to date.

What is not amongst them, however, is something aimed at a younger audience.

The result is Natalie’s Fiendish New Headteacher, which was released on Monday and is now available from Waterstones, Amazon and selected book stores for £6.99, as well as a Kindle download for £2.99.

Terry said: “I wrote it as my children are all into reading, yet I'd never written anything specifically for them to read."

The book follows an ordinary pupil, Natalie Underwood, as her school employs a seemingly young head for her school, Crowntown Community College. Her concerns are allayed by her father and teachers, but they are not helped by new tasks assigned to the school such as rope making and blade production.

Her fears are brought to life when the school is lifted from its foundations and flipped to become a ship to transport the head and his new motley crew - the teachers - to find his buried treasure as he reveals himself to be a vicious pirate.

It is up to her to save the school from his tyranny and, unknown to them all, the monsters that inhabit the island once they land.

The book is illustrated by his friend Kent Tayler, a cartoonist who has contributed to a range of publications include Private Eye.