A BILLINGHAM girl is celebrating after her photograph triumphed over 500 other entries to be crowned regional winner of a wildlife competition.

Bridie Husband, 12, who started taking pictures only a year ago when her dad introduced her to photography, is the junior winner of the WWT Nikon Photographic Competition 2007.

Bridie won a set of binoculars worth more than £100 and clinched a place in the national final.

The competition was run by the Washington Wetland Centre and Bridie will represent the North-East when she goes head-to-head with snappers from eight other centres in the UK.

Entries, which had to be of wildlife, included colourful woodland birds, delicate dragonflies and dramatic photographs of birds in flight.

Bridie was praised by the judges for having a natural gift for composing shots and was ecstatic to hear she had won.

She said: "This is the first time I have entered a photography competition and I was very happy when I heard I had won.

"We are regular visitors to wildfowl and wetlands trusts and I could hardly decide which pictures to send in.

"I have been photographing for about a year and started when my dad introduced me to it. I photograph everything, really, like family, animals and places."