A TEENAGE athlete who suffers from cerebral palsy has seen off strong competition to win an award in a regional sporting contest.

Lee Hunter, 17, from Redcar, won the Male Young Achiever Award at this year's North-East English Federation of Disability Sports Organisations' Sports Achievements Awards, sponsored by npower.

Track athlete Lee started running in 2002 and was spotted at a local competition.

He began training at Gateshead Harriers and is in contention for the Great Britain Paralympic team, which will compete in Athens.

Npower spokesman Gary Doig said: "The calibre of the nominations was outstanding, even better than last year. We saw an amazing array of sporting talent and achievement at the awards and Lee is a hot prospect for the future.