A NINE-year-old girl's picture is gracing the bags of shoppers in her home town after she won the top prize in a competition.

Zara Hogg, of Billingham, Teesside, put pen to paper to draw a picture of a couple sitting in a park on a sunny day while a boat sails by on the lake.

Her award-winning design has now been now been printed onto thousands of hessian bags that will be given out in the Tesco store in Billingham following the contest.

Zara, who goes to Bewley Primary on Low Grange Avenue, also bagged a £500 prize for her school.

The Tesco store, on Leeholme Road, asked hundreds of local school pupils to design a poster around ‘why you love Billingham’.

Tesco store manager, Peter Shaw said: "It’s a brilliant picture and Zara has done really well so she deserved to win.

"I know our customers are going to love the I Love Billingham bags, of course, with Zara’s colourful picture on.”

The head teacher of Bewley Primary School, Maria Carlton, echoed the sentiment, saying: “All the pupils had great fun with their pictures and I’m delighted that Zara was successful. I look forward to seeing this must-have fashion accessory around Billingham in the coming weeks.”