SUCCESS is sheer poetry for two youngsters at a Northallerton school.

For a poem they wrote on the impact of prison life has earned them a trip to London.

Next month, Charlotte Rolf and Vicky Brown will go to the House of Commons to read out their award-winning poem at a conference on the work of a crime awareness trust and in the presence of a senior Government minister.

The teenagers wrote Things I Miss as part of a crime awareness day at the Allertonshire School last summer. They received a prize at the end of the day for producing the verse in less than half an hour.

Since then, the school has heard that the poem has been published and used in other UK schools staging similar events.

But everyone was stunned when the girls were invited to read the poem at the House of Commons event.

And as part of their day out, they will get guest of honour treatment.

Charlotte, who is 14 and lives in Romanby, said: "We started thinking about what had been said about being in prison and adding to each other's thoughts. "It was a joint effort, using each other's ideas."

Vicky, 13 and from Osmotherley, said the workshop on prison life had been very off-putting. "It made us think we would never want to do anything wrong," she said.

The two girls are nervous about reading out their poem but looking forward to the experience.