A NORTH-EAST acrobat has won a bronze medal in the European Gymnastics Championships.

Durham University student Scott Patterson was competing in the sports acrobatics discipline in the championships, held in Poland.

Scott, who studies at the university's Queen's Campus, in Stockton, and lives in Durham City, is in the second year of his business finance degree.

Last year, he won a silver medal in the Sports Acrobatics World Championships in Germany, and earlier this year his team qualified for the World Cup, in Russia, finishing second.

He trains at Deerness Valley Gymnastics and Leisure Centre, near Durham City, and is coached by Vladimire Pozdniakov and Durham University graduates Karl Wharton and Stuart Thompson.

Sports acrobatics is a fast-paced sport which combines dance, acrobatics and gymnastics skills.