Prince Harry and colleagues at Hazles Farm Day Nursery. The Prince is third from the left on the bottom row.

It is not every day a member of the Royal family turns up at your nursery to lend a helping hand. But that is what happened to children at a Shropshire nursery, when Prince Harry dropped by.

Toddlers and staff at Hazles Farm Day Nursery, just outside Shawbury, got a surprise when the prince and fellow students from the nearby Defence Helicopter Flying School popped round to complete a community project.

The aim of the visit was to assist with the construction of a nature area, sunshade for the toddlers’ play area and to plant tree saplings.

Students from No 122 Course of the Defence Helicopter Flying School ventured from RAF Shawbury to complete the project. Prince Harry is training to become an Army Air Corps helicopter pilot at the base.

Nursery manager Claire Holland said today staff “couldn’t believe it” when the Prince arrived. “Everyone was very excited,” she said. “We told the children that there was a prince here.

“We explained that the Queen was his grandma, which they understood.

“He worked as part of a team with the other students and they all worked really hard, planting trees in our forest school area and gardening with the children, helping them pick vegetables from our vegetable patch and harvest those and they all worked really really hard.”

She said the whole group was “exceptionally well-mannered and charming”.

Base spokesman Squadron Leader Neil Hope said the visit was enjoyed by all of the student pilots and the interaction with the children was very rewarding.

“The students worked incredibly hard with one course member digging two 3ft x 5ft holes in difficult ground before he could retreat back to Shawbury for a well earned rest,” he said.

Meanwhile, Prince Harry’s older brother, Prince William, who has been stationed at RAF Shawbury since January training to become an RAF search and rescue helicopter pilot, was due to join young homeless people on a fell walk today.

The royal will help them raise a London 2012 flag to mark three years until the start of the Olympics.