CHEPSTOW nursery children became space biologists for the day after planting seeds that had previously been on a space expedition.

Riverside Nursery, formerly Sunnybank, received the seeds after being selected by a competition held by the RHS Campaign for School Gardening and UK Space Agency.

Each selected school received 200 rocket lettuce seeds, with half of the batch having zero gravity exposure from travelling on a expedition with UK astronaut Tim Peake.

Teachers and children are tasked with nurturing the plants, collecting data and taking pictures which will be fed into the results of the national experiment in May.

Ms Emma Neal, of Riverside, was thrilled that the nursery was chosen recalling the children's excitement about the “Tim Space Man Seeds” as they planted them in the grounds.

She explained: “We have been given a very strict set of guidelines by the project and we have to water certain plants on certain days and feed spreadsheets back.

“The children really enjoyed themselves today and when they look back and I'm sure they will be proud that they were involved in such a big experiment with Tim Peake.”

To find out more about the Rocket Science project visit schoolgardening.rhs.org.uk.