A TEN-year-old schoolgirl has shattered a North-East long jump record.

Helen Simpson, from Barnard Castle Preparatory School, County Durham, made a jump of 4m 3cm at the Headmasters Conference North-East meeting, at Gateshead International Stadium this month, easily beating the previous under-11s meeting record, which stood at 3m 82cm.

Helen, a year six pupil, from Bishop Auckland, said: "I started jumping in year four and really enjoy it. The long jump is fun and I seem to be good at it.

"One day I would love to compete in the Olympics."

Her deputy headteacher, Nick Seddon, said: "Helen has broken the school record five times, so we knew she had it in her. She shows the signs of real talent and natural ability and I'm confident she will do well in the future."

Helen's effort was one of a string of successes for the school at the meeting.

The school also picked up wins for the under-nines girls 80m, long jump and relay; the under-tens boys long jump and relay; and the under-11s girls 800m.

Mr Seddon said: "We were competing against much bigger schools from Newcastle, Sheffield, Hull Wakefield, Leeds and Giggleswick. Given our school's comparatively small size, I think the children did fantastically well."