TWO teenage champions will today be honoured by the Prime Minister.

Luke Rooney, 15, of Ushaw Moor, and Richard Hurst, 14, of Esh Winning, both in County Durham, were runners-up in the Under-17 Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships in France.

Today, the boys and their coach, Karl Wharton, will attend a reception hosted by Tony and Cherie Blair at Downing Street to celebrate the country's sporting excellence.

The boys, who narrowly missed out on gold medals, are pupils at Deerness Valley Comprehensive School, in Ushaw Moor, and came through the talent identification programme at Deerness Gymnastics High Performance Centre.

Mr Wharton said: "To finish second in the world is an outstanding achievement.

"They have worked very hard over the past two years and they deserve all the success. They are a credit to both the centre and their school."

The centre has a direct link with their school and feeder primary schools.

Luke and Richard, who train twice a day several times a week, also achieved joint second place in the Under-19 Junior British Championships.

Mr Wharton said: "They have great potential for the future."

He said the teenagers hoped to compete in the junior European Championships, to be held in Greece next year, and also in the junior World Championships, which will be staged in 2006.

Mr Wharton said the boys have also just tested for the World Class Potential Squad, a National Lottery-funded Sports England programme for elite junior athletes.

He said they were hopeful they would be selected.