BURY town centre is coming alive with street theatre performances by the borough's future stars of stage and screen on Friday.

Between 10am and midday, students from Bury College's performing arts department will be entertaining shoppers in Bury's Mill Gate centre, on The Rock and in Kay Gardens with comedy sketches.

The short pieces -- devised by the students who have also made their own costumes -- will be partially improvised to interact with the audience and include sketches about a cops and robbers chase, scarecrows and overgrown pigeons, a businessmen's sack-race, the lost bridge and an ostrich.

The young performers are taking a break from the Crucial Crew education programme in Bolton where their acting skills help school children understand 'Stranger Danger'.

Kenny Orr, from the college's performing arts department, said: "The Crucial Crew is an annual programme involving the emergency services, North West Water and other service providers in teaching children about danger in all its forms.

"Our short play deals with talking to strangers and what they should do when confronted by them.

"This is the first commissioned acting job our first year students have undertaken as part of their course at Bury College and they thoroughly enjoying providing this service for local school children."