CHILDREN and adults are being encouraged to completely re-build a Herefordshire market town.

But the makeover of Bromyard isn't town planning gone mad, more a summer activity allowing residents to take part in a video game craze sweeping the nation.

Kate Tolley, the co-founder of volunteer group Make:Bromyard, came up with the idea of building the town using Minecraft - a virtual game about placing blocks to build anything the player can imagine.

"I wanted to do something that would involve as much of the community as possible, " said Mrs Tolley.

"We're big fans of Minecraft in our house and I'm fairly involved with the Minecraft community online.

"I've been quite keen to do something in conjunction with the local schools.

"The game is very familiar to so many children, so it's a good tool to get them involved with.

"I'm not aware of anyone trying to build to scale anything this big so I'm really excited about it."

The activity, called "Summer of Minecraft", begins today [Thursday] and will run each Thursday from 9am throughout the school holidays and possibly longer.

It will be held at the town's heritage centre with Bromyard and Winslow Town Council having leant its support to the unusual project.

Mrs Tolley said those taking part can choose what they wish to build.

"Some people may like to build their own house," she said. "Beyond that, we will give them free rein really.

"Once complete it will be a map of Bromyard that you can visit and 'walk' through."

The time it takes to complete the task will depend on how many attend the workshops.

"I anticipate it will take some time and significantly longer than the summer holidays," added Mrs Tolley, who said children must bring an adult with them to the sessions. She said those planning on taking part don't have to have their own Minecraft account.

Make:Bromyard is a volunteer-run, non-profit hub where people of all ages can share expertise and use equipment and tools they might not have at home.

It has been based in the heritage centre since March.