HOW would you feel if the price of alcohol soared by £50 a bottle or a chocolate bar set you back more than £1?

That would be the price Britain would pay if one group of Bolton schoolchildren were in power.

Youngsters at Queensbridge Primary School, in Farnworth, put themselves in Chancellor Gordon Brown's shoes and held their very own Budget.

The Year Six pupils, aged 10 and 11, studied the coverage of last week's Budget in class, before drawing up plans of their own.

And they produced a red box full of surprises - ordering that the price of fruit be slashed and that a packet of cigarettes carry a £20 price tag, to encourage healthier living.

Dean Thompson, aged 10, said: "I'd put cigarette prices up because too many people smoke and I'd put the price of fruit down so we can be healthier.

"I already knew who the Prime Minister was, but I've learnt more about how the country is run. It's good to be able to budget things and it was a fun change from English and Maths."

Classmates suggested training for the unemployed and a £5 increase for pensioners.

Others recommended that wine and beer "go higher" by £50 and the price of sweets and chocolate be raised because they are so "addictive".

Ikra Aleem, aged 11, rounded-off her Budget by saying: "I'm sure my changes are going to benefit you, making you a lot happier and making our nation a greener place to live."

The project was run by Year Six teacher Mel Eastwood who joined Queensbridge in September, 2006, and wants to make the exercise an annual feature of the school's curriculum. Mrs Eastwood said: "It's a way of looking at current issues and involving the children in things that are happening in the news that will affect them.

"We looked at all the newspapers and websites after the Budget and talked about who was in government.

"They came up with some fantastic work and tied in what they'd learnt with other areas of the curriculum."