DURHAM County emerged as the top North-East team with two gold medals at the English Schools Championships in Nottingham.

But Northumberland were not far behind, winning three silver and two bronze.

Durham's star performer was Washington schoolboy Lewis Robson, who devastated the opposition in the junior boys 400m, winning by almost a second in a personal-best 50.97 secs.

Another Durham athlete, Graham Jackson won the intermediate boys triple jump, taking advantage of a tail-wind to leap 14.16m, with teammate Christopher Jefferson placing fifth (13.66m).

North-East champion Chris Parr gave Durham a silver medal in the intermediate boys 3000m, while the only girl in Palatinate purple to return with a medal was Kerry Elliott, third in the senior girls shot (11.23m).

James Sinclair collected the first medal for Northumberland when he finished runner-up in the junior boys 200m (22.99 secs), beaten by only four-hundredths of a second, and there was also a silver for the intermediate boys 4 x 100m relay team of Alan Selby, Paul Moore, Ben Lavender and Kelchi Eseonu.

David Riley won the bronze medal in the senior boys 200m (21.95 secs), while Nisha Desai was a gallant second in the senior girls 800m (2:11.46), three seconds behind the winner.

Double Junior Great North Run gold medallist Charlotte Wickham was third for Northumberland in the senior girls 1500m (4:35.70).

Cleveland's only medallist was senior boys discus thrower Leslie Richards, who won the senior boys competition on the opening day of the championships, when he reached 47.87m.

But Charles Hogarth was only 19 centimetres away from third place in the intermediate hammer, throwing 52.58m.