DELIGHTED youngsters came face to face with their favourite book character when they took a trip into the deep dark wood at Moors Valley Country Park.

The ‘real-life’ Gruffalo was making a special appearance to celebrate the launch of the Gruffalo Spotter Adventure app.

And among those to meet him were a family who won a Daily Echo competition to meet one of the world’s most famous and elusive creatures.

We were inundated with entries and grandmother Tina Mitchell, of Kinson, was thrilled when her name was selected at random.

She took a trip to the park with her daughter, Sian Manning, and grandchildren Thomas, four, Edward, two, and five-month-old Emily, who live in Boscombe.

The family took advantage of the sunshine to feed the ducks and enjoy a picnic before meeting the Gruffalo himself.

“We had a lovely time and our four-year-old thinks the Gruffalo is his new best friend,” said Tina.

“He also loved the app, we got some very good pictures.

“We were very much looking forward to it, we are regular visitors to Moors Valley but haven’t been on the Gruffalo trail yet.

“We will probably be heading back to do that this weekend.”

The new, free augmented reality app allows characters from Julia Donaldson’s best-selling book to come to life in a similar manner to the popular Pokemon Go game.

Forestry Commission England and Magic Light Pictures have joined forces to introduce the app which encourages families to follow clues on a self-led trail.

The app creates 3D animations of the various characters allowing families to take photos featuring their youngsters.

Pictures are then added to the device’s gallery, where they can be shared via social media using the hashtag #GruffaloSpotters.

Gruffalo Spotter is not the first time the Moors Valley Country Park has teamed up with Julia Donaldson.

The self-led Stick Man trail which opened in December 2015 proved a huge hit with families from across the area.

Those who want to take part in Gruffalo Spotters should download the app before going to the park because it may be difficult to get a signal there.