A CAREER in dance beckons for a Hartlepool teenager after winning a £27,000 college scholarship.

Daniel Todd has won a three-year scholarship to Bird College of Performing Arts, in Kent. He begins in September.

Daniel, 18, is studying an AVCE Performing Arts course at Stockton Riverside College, Stockton. He hopes the next course will help to develop his skills in both drama and vocal performance, as well as tap dance, jazz, ballet and theatre gymnastics.

He said: "I can hardly believe it. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me and I feel very fortunate to have been selected, as the competition for places is so intense.

"I'm so grateful to everyone who has helped me to achieve this success. I owe so much to them all."

Sara Durkin, head of the School of Performing Arts at the Riverside College, said: "Daniel is a model student. Determined, dedicated and, I believe, destined for an outstanding career in the performing arts. He came through two demanding auditions at Bird College, firstly to achieve a place there, then to be chosen for a scholarship. I'm really proud of him."