PERTH — A council-run October holiday den-building session at North Inch Community Campus has resulted in the creation of a fully sovereign den state, after participants refused to return to their parents at the end of the morning session.

"We gave them sticks, tarpaulin and string," said Early Years Play Coordinator Lorna Anderson, 41. "We did not give them a national anthem. They wrote that themselves. It's mostly about crisps."

The den, which locals have begun calling the Republic of Under-the-Big-Tree, reportedly declared independence at approximately 11:47am, shortly after a disagreement about whose turn it was to hold the torch.

Its constitution, written in felt-tip on the back of a crisp packet, bans adults, homework, vegetables and "the word 'right' said in that voice". Its head of state is a six-year-old who has chosen to be known only as The Captain.

Council negotiators were dispatched to the border at lunchtime armed with diluting juice, Jaffa Cakes and the promise of screen time. "The talks were difficult," said Anderson. "They wanted a seat at the UN. We offered them a seat at the window on the bus home. We're still some way apart."

Parents have reacted with a mixture of concern and relief. "Honestly, it's the October holidays," said mum Claire Brown, 38. "If the den state can feed them until Monday, I'm prepared to recognise its sovereignty."

Similar sessions planned elsewhere in Perth and Kinross, including den building at Kinross Primary School's nature garden, have been placed on high alert. A second session at North Inch is scheduled for Thursday 22 October, by which time officials hope to have established diplomatic relations, or at least to have got the tarpaulin back.