A rotary club has presented illustrated dictionaries to 17 schools.

The initiative by Grays Thurrock Rotary is part of Rotary’s national literacy campaign.

Grays Thurrock Rotary club presented the books as part of the Dictionary 4 Life programme.

The books were given to junior schools in Chafford Hundred, Chadwell St Mary, north and south Grays, Stifford and Tilbury.

Grays Thurrock Rotary president Graham Loveland, said: “Helping to improve literacy, especially among young people, is vital to a good education. A dictionary is an important tool in this process.”