Actor and author Mackenzie Crook hoped he fired children's imaginations when he helped raise money for a school.

The children’s author, who has appeared in The Office and Pirates of the Caribbean, talked to pupils at Muswell Hill Primary School about his book The Windvale Sprites and signed copies at a sale which raised money for the school.

The event marked the start of the school’s events to mark World Book Day next month, including the school’s annual readathon, called Read-a-Fun.

Mr Crook said: “The Read-a-Fun is a fantastic idea that I’m thrilled to be a part of.

“By speaking about the process of writing and illustrating The Windvale Sprites, I hope I fired up the children’s imaginations.

“Anything that gets children reading and enjoying books has my approval and I wish them well in their Read-a-Fun efforts.”

Polly Faber, organiser of the Read-a-Fun and mother of pupils Bill, eight, and Eddie, six, said: “We were so extremely lucky to have Mackenzie visit our school.

“It was fascinating hearing about how he came up with the idea of the book and the inspiration behind his fantastic illustrations.”

The school has been running a sponsored readathon for the last three years and has raised more than £8,000 which has been spend on books for classrooms and the school library.