YOUNG poets have broadcast their work on the airwaves after winning a competition.

The winners of Radio Teesdales poetry competition, which saw local children invited to write a poem about Teesdale, were invited to the station for a full tour of the studios and to record their poems.

The judging panel included poet Ian McMillan, Staindrop School English Teacher Trudi Dixon, Radio Teesdale presenters Katey Wallace and Annalisa Ward and station manager Peter Dixon.

Mr McMillan said: "What worked about them was that they had a job to do, to describe Teesdale, and they all did that. "And what excited me as well was that there was some very good rhyming and rhythm. When I was little, Teesdale was one of my Dads favourite place and we used to come a lot. I know the area very well and these poems capture it."

Kiera Wallace at Woodland Primary School won Year 3 category, Lee Robinson from Montalbo Primary School, won Year 4 category and special overall prize for best poem, Emma Teasdale from Woodland School won the prize for category Years 5+6 years and Tess Bettison, from Teesdale Comprehensive School, won the Year 7 category.

Radio Teesdale Station Manager Peter Dixon was delighted with the quality of entries: "I want to thank everyone that entered. All the poems were brilliant and it was a really tough job to find the winners," he said.

All the winning and commended poems can be seen on the Junior Radio Website page radioteesdale.co.uk.

Radio Teesdale broadcasts on 102.1FM and 105.5FM and on the website.