Many of the children have weak immune systems

All the children, who are from Belarus, were born after the Chernobyl disaster of 1986, but many of them still appear to be suffering from the effects of the accident.

Friends of Chernobyl's Children, who have organised the trip, recently tested one of the children's radiation levels, and the charity said they were found to be 30% above normal.

All the youngsters are from poor backgrounds and many arrived in the UK with just the clothes they were wearing.

Hiroshima bomb

But that has not stopped them enjoying the change of scenery.

Speaking through a translator, 12-year-old Christina Berezkova told the BBC's Midlands Today programme: "We're seeing many beautiful things here. I like the animals and horse riding."

Paul Bowen, a spokesman for Friends of Chernobyl's Children, said the young visitors are relishing their time in the Midlands.

"They love their fruit - apples, pears, oranges - because they cannot grow it back in Belarus because the ground is so contaminated."

We began worry because in the shops it was written 'please boil your milk before you drink it' Maria Dzubenco The visiting children's translator

Many of the children have weak immune systems and poor general health.

The explosion at the Ukrainian plant released 100 times the amount of radiation of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs combined.

The United Nations estimate up to 30,000 people have since died, with six million still living in contaminated areas.

Maria Dzubenco, the children's translator, was then living in Belarus, which borders the Ukraine.

She said: "We began worry because in the shops it was written, 'Please boil your milk before you drink it.'

"After that we began to worry because people began to be sick."

The children, who are all receiving medical care while they are in the UK, return home in a month.