A 13-YEAR-OLD boy with cerebral palsy has become a national champion.

Lee Maddison, of St Catherine Close, Fishburn, County Durham, has taken part in the Disability Sport England championships in Norwich. And Lee delighted his friends and family by claiming the national junior boccia title.

Boccia is an paralympic sport, similar to bowls, where wheelchair competitors have to give instructions on the height and direction of a ramp which the bowl is rolled down.

Lee learned how to play the sport at the Percy Hedley School, in Newcastle, and was chosen for the championships on the strength of the progress he has made.

Cheered on by his parents and ten-year-old brother Ryan, Lee cruised through the early rounds. But he had to rely on a sudden death play-off to win his semi-final and won another close contest in the final to lift the title.

Grandad Bill Routledge said: "The whole family is over the moon with Lee. He was delighted to win - I don't think he's come down to earth yet.