Ameera Pheby, aged 10, won her place ahead of hundreds of other young hopefuls after impressing judges with her article on the importance of libraries.

A Seaton Primary School pupil has been named one of 14 finalists in the national STABILO Young Journalist of the Year competition.

Ameera Pheby, aged 10, won her place ahead of hundreds of other young hopefuls after impressing judges with her article on the importance of libraries.

The overall winner will be announced in October.

Ameera said: “I am thrilled that I am a finalist!

“I am so happy and I really wasn’t expecting it.

“I would like to be a journalist and a doctor when I am older, so this result has made me more confident in my writing.”

Ameera is the daughter of Chris and Sousan Pheby. Her mum said: “Ameera loves writing stories and writes all the time. She’s an avid reader, and loves reading First News!

“She loves the local library with its friendly and helpful staff and really wanted to highlight the plight of libraries, knowing how much they provide to their communities.

“We think she managed to highlight a local story with national significance - we are both very proud of her!”

Now in its fourth year, STABILO’s annual writing competition, which is run in association with leading children’s newspaper First News, aims to find the best young writing talent in Britain.

The winner will have the opportunity to write their own column for First News and win £1,000 of STABILO products for their classmates.

Vanya Hunter, Marketing Manager at STABILO said: “We had hundreds and hundreds of entries this year and the calibre is getting higher every time! It’s a hard job reducing the entries down to just 14! The standard of children’s work is constantly increasing and it’s inspiring to see. This year we’ve discovered a wealth of natural writing talent and hope everyone continues to write even if they didn’t make it as a finalist.”