EXCITED young dinosaur lovers had the time of their lives when the prehistoric creatures showed up at a popular shopping centre.

The unusual appearance was part of a series of events for families during the Super Summer Spectacular at the Middlebrook Retail Park.

The show, held on Thursday, featured a range of different dinosaur performers, an educational talk and a visit by a huge T-Rex.

It was so popular that organisers had to put on an extra showing and families filled the mall area close to the Vue Cinema.

Heather Crank-Ingham, retail, marketing and PR manager for Middlebrook, said she was surprised by the popularity of the creatures.

“It went far better than expected,” she said. “We had a fabulous turnout with a lot more people than we could’ve imagined.”

The level of interest in the even has even prompted organisers to consider putting on another show in future, Ms Crank Ingham said.

She added: “They were so successful that I think we will look at bringing them back another time now that we know how popular they are.”

Thursday’s show was followed by another prehistoric event as families were invited back the mall for a dinosaur making workshop.

It followed a week in which the area was transformed into a space adventure with Star Wars characters on show.

The Star Wars event allowed children to jump inside a large X-Wing - one of the ships from the popular films - as well as meeting a range of characters.

Anyone interested in trying out one of Middlebrook’s summer events can get involved in the ‘Arty Party’ held on Thursday, August 15.

This will allow children to paint their own pictures on large easels and have a caricature artist capture families in silly situations. There will also be facepainting and glitter tattoos.

Finally, on Thursday, August 22, the mall will be filled with tiny superheroes as youngsters dress up in the outfits of their favourite caped crusader. Facepainting will also be available.

Anyone interested in getting involved in the Super Summer Spectacular can find more information on the events, at www.middlebrook.co.uk/Whatson