A teenager has received three dance awards which have been compared to top GCSE grades.

Lauren Sproats, of Newton Aycliffe, has achieved grade five certificates in ballet, tap and modern dance from the British Theatre and Dance Association.

The 14-year-old so impressed assessors in all three disciplines they awarded her passes with distinction, similar in standard to A* grades at GCSE.

The Woodham Community College pupil said: "It is nice to know I can get good grades in something I enjoy and am good at."

Lauren caught the dance bug when she watched a pantomime as a toddler and wanted to join in the performance.

Her first show was Cinderella, at Sunderland Empire, in 1997. Since then she has enjoyed a host of performances, including Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty alongside a Russian ballet company.

Her next performance is in Goldilocks and The Three Bears at the Seaburn Centre, Sunderland, this weekend.

Her mother, Chris, said: "We are so proud of her. She practices most nights at the Kathleen Davis Stage School, in Sunderland, and has a real talent for it.

"To celebrate, a bus-load of her friends and lots of family are going to watch her at the weekend."