BUDDING scientists at a Chepstow nursery are helping astronaut Tim Peake with a real-life experiment.

The children at Riverside Nursery in the town centre are growing rocket seeds – some of which were taken into space by the man the youngsters call “Timmy Astronaut”.

They will watch the seeds grow and record their results which will then be sent off to the experiment’s headquarters at the Space Academy.

The results will be compared to others to try to understand the effects of gravity on seeds.

Emma Neal, from Riverside, said: “Tim Peake took thousands of seeds into space. We’ve had 200 seeds delivered to us, 100 that have been into space and 100 that haven’t.

“They’re in two packets but we don’t which is which.”

The seeds have to be watered on particular days and turned 180 degrees every 48 hours until the experiment ends on May 25.

Emma added: “The children are very excited by the whole story and the fact they are involved in it.”