THERE was no monkey business at a Chipping Sodbury school as young primates took part in a King Kong colouring competition.

Children at St John’s Mead Primary School were tasked with creating a design for their new gorilla sculpture which has been bought by Chipping Sodbury Rotary Club as part of Bristol Zoo’s Wow Gorillas project.

One of the two winners, seven-year-old Lily Greenslade and eight-year-old Katie Dale, will now see their design reprinted on the gorilla which the school will use to teach pupils about gorilla conservation.

Edd Smith, corporate development assistant at Bristol Zoo, said: "The Wow Gorillas project is part of the zoo’s 175th birthday celebrations and there are 100 small gorillas going out to schools.

"There has been a huge amount of interest and the educational side of the project is immensely important."

Larger, life size gorillas are also being placed in various locations around greater Bristol, including one outside Chipping Sodbury Baptist Church which has also been purchased by the town’s Rotary club.

It will feature a design by Manchester-based artist Charlotte Brown entitled Funky Gibbon and will arrive in Chipping Sodbury on July 5.

Incoming Rotary president Anthony Bourne said: "Rotary as a whole is looking at conservation in Africa and we are all for teaching children about saving the gorillas."

The children’s pictures will now be printed on the front page of the school’s summer fair brochure. The fair, which will feature several gorilla-themed attractions as well as stalls, games and an arena of entertaining acts, takes place on Saturday, July 2 (12-4pm).