YOUNGSTER Russell Haithwaite has followed in his mother's footsteps.

The ten-year-old, from Darlington, won a competition to design the best jubilee crown for the Queen's golden jubilee celebrations.

Teachers judging the competition at Reid Street Primary School were impressed with Russell's artistic flair, and it is obvious where he gets it from.

At the Queen's silver jubilee celebrations in 1977, his mother Clare, 34, won a prize for the best dressed crown at a street party in Mowden Park.

Clare, of Stuart Street, said: " I couldn't believe it when he told me he had won. I won a competition for the best designed crown 25 years ago for the silver jubilee. I was about nine-years-old at the time.

"It obviously runs in the family.