A teacher from Braintree has joined forces with a Witham illustrator to launch his first book for children.

Andy Johnson, 47, of Maltings View, has written Jimpy, under the nom-de-plume of Jonkers, for primary school pupils.

He said: “Writing has always been a passion, I actually wrote this story a long time ago but I needed to find an illustrator.

Mr Johnson said he hopes Jimpy will be the first of many published works: “It is set up so I could do a series, but I already have one story that’s a bit different and I’m working on another one.”