SCHOOLCHILDREN have won prizes in a competition to fund the region’s best letter writers.

James Roddam, from Durham, was named winner of the Royal Mail’s Young Letter Writer of the Year competition for the North of England Region.

The nine-year-old pupil at Blue Coat Church of England Junior School won the under-11 age group and was awarded £200 in vouchers for both himself and his school with his letter in response to the question “What Is Your Dream Job?”

Esme Poore, 12, from Westfield School in Gosforth won the competition in the 11-14 age group.

Letters were assessed by a panel of judges on their layout vocabulary, grammar, punctuation and content.

Mark Wilkinson, Royal Mail’s North East Delivery Director, said: “Both of our North East regional winners had clearly worked hard to capture the key drivers that engage and excite readers and without doubt both letters were well structured and written from the heart.”

Thomas Whitelegg, aged 11, from Ripon Grammar School, won the 11-14 age group in the Yorkshire and Humber region.