A TEAM from Helmsley Community Primary School reached the finals of the North of England junior table tennis championships.

The squad of 11-year-old Finn Needham and ten-year-olds Edward Famberly, Charlie Allott and Jack Moody represented Helmsley against teams from bigger towns and cities, including Durham and Scarborough, before going down 7-1 to Blackburn in the final.

Their achievement was the latest in a string of table tennis successes for the school, which runs coaching sessions for its ten-strong squad two nights a week.

It also holds a family table tennis session at the school on Saturday mornings, organised by coaches Cliff Edens, Ruth Purseglove and Tom Needham.

Head teacher Michael Booth said: "All the school is proud of the team. The success is due to the coaches who introduced table tennis to the school and have given hours of their time to developing our squad, and also to parents for their encouragement".