THE thought of a milk float with in-built hair salon got barely a raised eyebrow from a Swindon milkman with more than 40 years’ experience.

As an eight-year-old, Gary Powell joined his milkman dad on his rounds.

Now 51, the North Swindon milkman – who daily delivers milk in Moredon and Pinehurst – joined scores of kids to pass on the secrets of his trade.

Eager youngsters from Moredon Primary School learned about life on the milk float, with its early starts and stunning views of Swindon sunrises.

While news of 3am shift starts drew gasps from the children, teacher Mark Hetherington said his charges were keener to find out whether birds could peck through the tinfoil tops of the glass milk bottles.

“They’ve asked five or six times,” he laughed. “As you can hear they’re very concerned about birds getting to the cream on the milk.”

Organised by company Milk and More, the tour of Gary’s milk float was part of a programme of activities aimed at showcasing milk and its role in a healthy diet. It came as farmers around the country mark "Febru-dairy" - a riposte to "Veganuary", when some aimed to eat an exclusively plant-based diet throughout January.

Children at Moredon got to watch as smoothies were prepared in front of their eyes, while in another classroom inventive youngsters drew designs for their own futuristic milk floats.

Mark Hetherington, a Year 3 class teacher at the school, said: “The children know the simple connection of cow to milk. But for them it probably appears on the supermarket shelf and that’s about it.”

One seven-year-old pupil said she mostly drank milk with her cereal: “I like when you finish your cereal and it’s all flavours.”

The youngsters, who enjoyed eating marshmallow-flavoured cereals, said she had designed a milk float with a difference: “There was a hairdresser’s, living room and toilet – so people could get their hair cut.”

Gary Powell, a professional milkman from the age of 16, was surprisingly relaxed about the thought. “It’s all the future at the end of the day,” he smiled.

The milkman, who delivers milk, bread, eggs, juice and other groceries to around 500 homes every morning, said of his favourite part to the job: “Probably being out in the fresh air and working on your own.

“When I started out we were in electric floats, all wood with no doors. Now, we’re changing back to that.”