A PRIMARY school pupil received a dream Christmas present after overcoming thousands of entries to win a national competition.

Patrick Marks, of Combe Primary School, near Witney, took home a brand new bike as reward for triumphing in a competition to design the best cycle helmet.

The Year 6 pupil, whose creation featured several safety signs, was awarded a real-life version of the helmet alongside the bike at a special ceremony just before the Christmas holidays.

The competition was organised by First4Lawyers to raise awareness of cycle safety in the UK and saw more than 4,500 entries flood in from schools across the UK.

Interim head teacher, Julia Hamper, watched Patrick collect his prize and revealed the school was very proud of him.

She said: “I think Patrick created an excellent design and he’s clearly a young man who is very aware of cycle safety.

"We're really happy for him and pleased that he won the bike, it was well deserved.”

The competition was launched by First4Laywers at the start of November and ran throughout the month.

It was open to all Year 3-6 Key Stage 2 pupils, with a boy and a girl from each year group comprising the eight winners across the country.

All pupils in Years 5 and 6 at Combe were challenged to enter as homework, with 31 pupils at the West Oxfordshire school taking part overall.

Winning was extra special for Patrick, who revealed he needed a new bike as his existing one was 'quite old'.

He added that he 'really loved cycling' and was 'looking forward to putting on his helmet and riding home from school'.

The talented pupil's design was made up of a collection of road signs, while the other winning entries, which can be found on the First4Lawyers cycle safety website, featured a range of bright and multi-coloured creations.

First4Lawyers’ head of digital, Steve Harrison, is heading up the initiative and was full of praise for Patrick, but added the competition served an important message.

He said: “It was brilliant to see the reaction of Patrick, who was clearly thrilled with his prize.

“Outreach events like these help us promote cycle safety, as well as encouraging more children to get outside and ride bikes.”

Road safety charity Brake is one of the initiative's supporters, while Leeds-based LW Graphics produced the vinyl wraps of the successful helmet designs.

In July, Oxfordshire County Council was given an £84,500 grant enabling almost every primary school child in the county to receive cycle training.

The money will fund an additional 2,000 places on Bikeability courses provided by the council, which equip youngsters for the hazards of road cycling.

Bikeability, a scheme overseen by the Department for Transport, offers the grants as part of a £50m pot set aside to promote Bikeability cycle training in schools.

For more information on the Cycle Safety initiative visit https://cyclesafety.first4lawyers.com