DURHAM were the North-East's most successful county with three gold medals on the concluding day of the English Schools Championships at Gateshead International Stadium.

Multi-eventer Lewis Robson won the intermediate boys' 400m in a personal-best time of 48.20 secs, Darlington newcomer Phil Collins took the junior high jump title, while 18-year-old Tynesider Emma Morris signed off from the schools championships with her best-ever leap of 1.81 metres.

Durham, who had notched up the region's first medal when Graham Jackson finished third in the senior triple-jump on Friday, were the only North-East county to strike gold, with two winners in the space of less than 30 minutes.

Robson, who had set a new octathlon record in the Northern Schools Multi-Event Championships at Leeds a week earlier, shrugged off a cold to stage a storming winning finish.

He said: "At one stage on the final bend I was about five metres down on the leader. But I felt strong and I was catching him with every stride - I didn't think I would lose. I was so excited I didn't even dip on the line like I normally do."

Robson, who misses this weekend's Schools International in Cheltenham because of a family holiday in Cyprus, is concentrating on the English Schools Multi-Events Championships at Exeter in September.

Collins, who has yet to join an athletics club, made an instant impact on his English Schools debut. The 14-year-old Carmel Technical College pupil, who is six feet five inches tall, won the junior boys' high jump title with a clearance of 1.84m, eight centimetres lower than his previous best.

He said: "It's the most important competition I've ever been in and I messed up on three of my jumps. But once I cleared 1.84m I knew I had won."

Morris, who is the AAA Under-20 and Northern senior women's high jump champion, had to pull out all the stops after being matched up to 1.78m, her previous best performance. But her rival, Emma Perkins, of Essex, failed at 1.81m - and then the 18-year-old Jarrow student made three unsuccessful attempts to clear 1.83.

Durham's other medal-winner was Chester-le-Street's Lorna McMichael, who thought she had finished fourth in the intermediate 300m hurdles in a time of 45.39. But the winner was disqualified for running out of her lane and McMichael was awarded third place.

Cleveland, the region's smallest county, finished with two silver and four bronze medals. Junior boys' 100m hope Yusuf Aliu has to be satisfied with silver, clocking 11.31 secs behind Kent's James Alaka (11.14 secs) with teammate Richard Kilty taking third in 11.43 secs. The other silver medal came from 16-year-old James Minter, who produced a strong finish in the senior 800m, clocking 52.37 secs, while bronze medals were won by Jonathan Taylor who clocked 4:00.65 in the intermediate 1500m; Gavin Hill (48.38m senior discus) and the junior boys relay team.

Host county Northumberland won two bronze medals, thanks to Lewis Timmin (8:32.52 senior 3000m) and Kieron Flannery (53.78 secs senior 400m hurdles).