Aspiring writers have seen their work published for the first time after contributing a selection of short stories and poems for a new book.

Members of the South Oxhey Scribblers signed copies of 'Only on a Friday', named after the day they meet each week, at the library in Bridlington Road today (Friday).

The book is the first anthology produced by the group, which was established in the wake of a creative writing course provided by West Herts College at Ascend, the education and training charity based at All Saints Church in Gosforth Lane.

It features 14 authors who have written a mixture of fiction and non-fiction works, including some horror, and poetry.

One writer, Tena Digweed, who runs the South Oxhey Weight Watchers group, wrote a poem about her father and a story entitled Snow White and the Unusual Dwarves.

She said: “I never dreamed I would be in something like this. I just joined the group to stretch my imagination and thoughts and really enjoy it.”

Another author, Jim Ayers, has been part of the group since it began about two years ago.

He said: “I joined the group to help me with a book I've been writing for 35 years. It's opened my mind to fitting more things into a story to bring more out of it.”

Joy Hamilton added: “The group's great. There's such a varied group of people who have all done such different things.”

The Scribblers have also written a play, which is set in a charity shop in South Oxhey, and are looking for a local amateur dramatics group that may wish to perform it.

The course is run at South Oxhey charity Ascend, which provides activities to help people gain confidence and employment.

Christine Wyard, Ascend project manager, said: “As manager of Ascend, I'm just extremely proud of what they've achieved. They've worked so hard and published some really good work.

“All profits from the book will go back to Ascend. If we sell all of them, we will raise £2,000 to put back into courses.”

Hertfordshire Adult Family Learning Service, which is run by the county council and finances the Scribblers, contributed £500 towards the publication costs.

Kristy Thakur said: “Ascend are one of our providers and they provide fantastic learning opportunities for people and we gave them a little bit of extra funding this year to produce the book. It's a brilliant piece of work and shows the efforts all our learners have put in.”