THREE talented youngsters have won the top accolades their local community can bestow.

They have been named as Ripon's Young Musicians of the Year after a competition in the city that attracted more than 40 entries.

The winner in the junior category was 11-year old horn player Benjamin Kirk, a pupil at Ripon Cathedral Choir School.

He impressed the adjudicator, Chris Small, with his performance of Cherubini's First Sonata.

In the intermediate category the winner was 14-year-old pianist Thomas Sissons, who played Chopin's Raindrop prelude.

Thomas, who lives in Ripon, goes to St Aidan's School in Harrogate.

The senior category was won by 18-year-old Ripon Grammar School student Hannah Slater, who played an intermezzo by Brahms on the piano.

The winners received cups and medals, and they, and the two runners up in each age-group, were also presented with tokens to buy books or music.

The competition, which is sponsored by chartered accountants Leslie Bray and Co, is only open to young people who live in Ripon and the surrounding area or at school there.

The competition was held at Ripon Cathedral Choir School before a large and appreciative audience.

Adjudicator Chris Small is well-known as a player, conductor, arranger and examiner and is a former head of music at Queen Margaret's School, Escrick near York.