A TULLIBODY youngster had the time of his life when he embarked upon a tour of the glassworks in Alloa.

Kian Conlan has long been fascinated by the O-I plant down at Kelliebank, forever asking his uncle Gavin Doig about his workplace.

And, as reported by the Advertiser last month, the six-year-old put his imagination to the test when he built a replica of the building out of cardboard and sticky tape.

When the team down at the glassworks saw the creation, they decided to offer the crafty schoolboy an exclusive behind-the-scenes visit to the building.

And, despite a bout of chicken pox nearly getting in the way, Kian went down to the plant with his mum and dad, Michelle and Greg, last week.

He took in plenty of information from a small presentation at the start and found out about how bottles are made – further fuelling his curiosity at home.

Michelle said: "I think he found it quite interesting, to be honest. He was a bit mesmerised – I don't think he realised what went on.

"The highlight was him sitting in that digger, he is still going on about it.

"It was so nice of them what they done and all the presents he got at the end – they never had to do that.

"For him being so young, and the effort that they all went to and that effort to get him there, I would just like to thank them."

Kian, a pupil a Banchory Primary School, even went away with his own toy-sized version of the digger.

It now has a proud place alongside his model of the glassworks, which he plays with at home.

He will now be on the look-out for bottles created at the plant and is still not short of a question or two about the factory.

And it was a great experience for Michelle too, who said her son was quite "hyper" at the prospect of going to the plant.

She said: "He just melts my heart, when you see him getting really excited like that.

"It was just amazing to see him so happy, I have never seen him so happy in a while.

"He was just so excited; even the build up to when he was getting to go."

Gordon Leckie, O-I plant manager, added: "It was a pleasure to have Kian in the plant for a tour after seeing the superb model he had created of the factory.

"I hope it inspires his imagination further, leading to him developing his talents and realising his full potential."