YOUNG Bury author Elizabeth Ainsworth is certainly made of the 'write' stuff.

For the 10-year-old has been named as a runner-up in the National Young Writers’ Award.

Elizabeth, who is a pupil at Holcombe Brook Primary School. fought off tough competition from children all over the region with her story, 'The Train Station'.

The competition, organised by tuition provider Explore Learning, which has a centre in The Rock in Bury, is now in its seventh year. It was judged by best-selling author of The World of Norm series of book, Jonathan Meres.

Almost 15,000 children from all over the UK entered in an effort to win a trip to Disneyland Paris and £500 worth of books for their school. Each runner up, including Elizabeth, received a cup and the accolade of being named one of the best young writers in the country.

This year’s task was to write a 500-word story with the theme 'strange events and peculiar happenings'. That was certainly reflected in Elizabeth's story when after arriving by train at a small village, young Cherry Rivers later finds a squirming golden key and is transformed into a bird.

Explore Learning provides English and maths tuition to children aged five to 14, with 113 centres located across the country. They ran a number of creative writing workshops in libraries and schools up and down the country.

Carey Ann Dodah, head of curriculum at Explore Learning, said: “This year’s National Young Writers’ Awards attracted more entries than ever before so Elizabeth should be very proud of their success. Yet again we have been blown away with the amazingly creative, funny and astonishing stories. I can’t emphasise enough the benefits of writing for children; it gives them an outlet to escape into a whole new world, one where anything goes and they are boss. We’re thrilled to see so many children enter this year.”