Children from Chernobyl, many in remission from cancer, took part in activities at a club in Teesside as part of a visit to the UK to improve their health.

Bannatyne’s Health Club Ingleby Barwick arranged a range of activities for the 16 children, aged between eight and 12, which included swimming, junior aerobics and games of football on its Astroturf pitch.

The children came from poor villages in Belarus, which received 70 per cent of the radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear explosion in April 1986 and as a result, thousands are born every year with, or go on to develop, thyroid cancer, bone cancer and leukemia.

The club arranged the visit with the charity Chernobyl Children Life Line, which has brought 64 children to the area since 2003.

It is estimated that a month in the UK eating uncontaminated food and breathing fresh air boosts the children’s immune system for up to two years.