A TEENAGERS' success in overcoming a bullying problem has earned national acclaim.

Fourteen-year-old Ben Flynn was the winner of the first Craig Peart Award for youngsters combating bullying.

The accolade was made in memory of a Northumberland schoolboy who took his own life after falling foul of school bullies earlier this year.

Television weatherman Bob Johnson visited Deerness Comprehensive School, in Ushaw Moor, near Durham, to present the award.

Ben's success was highlighted on national television yesterday, when he featured in a live link up at the school gates with the GMTV studio in London.

It meant a 5am wake-up call for Ben, who lives not far from the school in Ushaw Moor.

He went live in an interview with presenter Eamonn Holmes in the studio discussing the issue of boys' reluctance to report being victim of bullying.

Ben spoke of the support he received from the school, which has a dedicated "listening post" with one in four of the 600 students now trained as "peer supporters" to offer advice to victims.

As a result of his experiences, Ben now helps other pupils and trains new "peer supporters".

Ben said by resolving his own problems he had become friendly with his former tormentors and attending school was now a more pleasurable daily experience.

"My problems began at primary school and into year seven when I started here, but eventually I decided to tell a teacher.

"It's worked out well and we are all friends now.

"I now try to help other pupils by listening to their problems and trying to offer solutions to them."

Ben was accompanied by his mother Vicky, school anti-bullying officer Tom Cunningham and some of the school's teaching staff, at the breakfast time television broadcast.