Midfield player Richard Hughes paid a visit to Warblington School in Havant to help celebrate the success of a new reading scheme.

Students read books that are ranked on a scale depending on their difficulty, and then take an online quiz afterwards. If they get 100 per cent they win a prize.

The Renaissance Learning scheme has been so successful it won a Diana Award.

Mr Hughes went into the library in the Southleigh Road school on Thursday to see how the scheme works, but some children were so absorbed in their books they did not even notice he was there.

When they did finally tear their eyes away from their books they got very excited and the footballer was inundated with requests for his autograph.

Mr Hughes said: 'I was very impressed. I went over to talk to a few pupils and I felt bad to interrupt them because they were so engrossed in reading.

'It seems like a great scheme. Everyone enjoys it and it seems to be reaping rewards. It was good to see them enjoying a basic skill that is really important.'

Assistant head teacher Peter Hurst said: 'A personality came in from Pompey. This is a chap who plays for the first team and the pupils didn't look up from their reading their books.'

He added: 'It's fantastic that the children want to read. It enhances their ability in every subject.'

Julie Hodge, project manager for the reading scheme, said: 'It has changed the ethos of the school into a reading school. Now they want to read. It's cool to read.'

She said the average reading age of Year 7 pupils has improved by eight months in just four months of being at school. Pupils have read 38 million words between them since September.

The school also won a literature quiz at Havant Library this week, beating five other schools.