A BOOK, written by a Bromsgrove dad as a bedtime story for his children, has been published.

Peter Barnes wrote 'The Bumpy Road to Wembley' four years ago to encourage his sons Daniel and James to read.

The 44-year-old said: "Like a lot of children, my sons were reluctant readers, so I wrote The Bumpy Road to Wembley as a bedtime story, based specifically around our family, to get them into reading.

"The published version is a lot more generic - about two teams that could be Aston Villa and Birmingham City, or any other team - depending on who you support."

The Bumpy Road to Wembley follows the fortunes of two football-crazy brothers, who, following a mix-up with the England national team, are given the chance of a lifetime as professional footballers.

Peter decided to self-publish the book after being made redundant from his job in IT in January.

He said: "I thought to myself, if I'm ever going to publish this book, now is the time."

The father-of-two has since donated copies of his book to his son's school - Aston Fields Middle School - and Finstall First School, to keep in their libraries. He will also hold a stall at Finstall First's school fate next month.

The Bumpy Road to Wembley, aimed at children aged seven to 13, is available to buy on Kindle for £2.99 or as a paperback for £5.99 at amazon.co.uk.