A TALENTED young musician scooped top place in his first ever county contest - landing a trophy for his former school and £100 for himself.

Saxophonist Daniel Johnson beat off competition from secondary schools across County Durham to win the Saint Cecilia Freemason Lodge's musical composition award.

The 17-year-old entered the contest with a piece of music called Storm of the Apocalypse, which he wrote for GCSE music while at Tudhoe Grange School.

Daniel, of Woodside, Spennymoor, started playing the saxophone, clarinet and piano six years ago.

He said it was a huge surprise to win his first contest, which was part of Freemasonry in the Community Week.

He said: "I was really pleased to win, it was also nice to win a trophy for the school where I first started to learn music.

Daniel now studies music at Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, Darlington, and recently joined other local musicians to perform for the Queen when she visited the region on her golden jubilee tour.

Head of music at Tudhoe Grange School, Adrian Biddulph, added: "The school is very proud of him, we know he is an incredibly talented young musician and know he can go a long way."