A YOUNG writer met one of her heroes at Downing Street after finishing runner-up in a national writing competition.

Lauren Kedar, who is 14 and a pupil at the School of St Helen and St Katharine in Abingdon, beat more than 2,000 entrants in a contest run by Take a Break’s Fiction Feast magazine.

Lauren and other selected entrants were invited to have afternoon tea with Prime Minister Gordon Brown and bestselling children’s author Anthony Horowitz, who headed the competition’s judging panel.

Lauren’s story, which will be published in the December issue of the Fiction Feast magazine, is set in war-torn Afghanistan and is called The Calm before the Storm.

Mr Horowitz and the judging panel said about her story: “For a 13-year-old girl to capture the tension and fears of soldiers going into battle is quite extraordinary.”

Lauren said: “It was quite scary meeting Mr Brown.

“It took me three hours to write the story, but I think it took me longer to come up with the title.”

The teenager was the runner-up in the 12 to 15 section of the competition, which is open to children aged eight to 18.

Lauren’s mother Sue said her daughter was most excited about the fact that her story had been read by Mr Horowitz, one of her favourite authors, who wrote the Alex Rider books.

She said: “Anthony Horowitz was very complimentary about their stories.

“I was so proud of her, I was thrilled.”

Her English teacher Helen Nash said: “I’m not surprised that Lauren has done so well. She is a very fluent writer with great maturity and flair.

“Lauren really cares about how she expresses herself and controls her writing with real confidence.”

It was the first time the magazine had run a competition for young writers.

As well as seeing her story published and meeting the Prime Minister, Lauren was presented with WHSmith vouchers and an overnight trip to London.

Take a Break’s Fiction Feast editor Margaret Nicholls said: “We were delighted that so many people entered online and it was great to see some fantastic typed and handwritten stories too.

“The judging panel had some tough decisions to make.”