A SIX-YEAR-OLD boy from Oxford fought off competition from across the county after being named a regional winner in a writing competition.

Jasper Fahy-Kowalchuk, a pupil at Rose Hill Primary School was honoured in the National Young Writers' Award.

The competition is run by tuition provider Explorer Learning, and challenged children to write a 500-word story including two different genres.

Stories were judged by Charlie & Lola author Lauren Child and the national prize included a trophy, family trip to Disneyland Paris and £500 worth of books for the winner's school.

Explore Learning head of education Carey Ann Dodah said: "We were once again blown away with both the quality and quantity of entries for the National Young Writers’ Awards.

"The competition grows and grows and we’re thrilled it has inspired so many children to get writing.

"This year’s ‘mash-up’ theme brought out some brilliantly creative entries, it was a pleasure to read through some of them and many congratulations to Jasper."

The national winner was Gracie Harding, 11, from Winchester who triumphed with her story 'Happy Never After'.