THE writing is on the wall for a poet turned journalist after she completed her apprenticeship with distinction and secured a job as a reporter.

Darlington College apprentice Paige McDermott has been taken on as a trainee reporter by The Northern Echo where her investigative skills revealed the extent of plastic pollution in the North-East and the poor rates of recycling in the region.

The 22-year-old became interested in writing when she was at school, a passion which grew when she read a degree in English literature and creative writing at university.

“After university I spotted the apprenticeship opportunity at Darlington College and it has been great spending a day in the classroom learning the theory and the rest of the time putting this into practice at the Echo”, she said.

“I love quirky stories and enjoyed tackling an issue, such as plastic pollution, which one minute saw me on a beach clean-up, the next interviewing an artist who fashioned her work from rubbish.”

Paige works from head office in Darlington and is now building a portfolio over the next 18 months to secure the National Qualification in Journalism required to be a senior journalist.