NOVICE poet Emily Dalton beat 6,000 children in a competition celebrating cats and dogs.

The 11-year-old's poem, Lowry's Cat, impressed judges in the regional contest so much they put her top of the class and awarded her £1,000 for her school and a £50 voucher and goody bag for herself

Her piece of work will be on show for a month at The Lowry Centre in Salford.

The Markland Hill School pupil was one of thousands of children who entered stories, drawings, paintings and collages in the competition, which was run by Royal Mail to celebrate a new set of stamps.

Emily loves creative writing and decided she would enter a poem. Her grandfather told her about Lowry and she visited the centre where the awards ceremony was held yesterday.

The Year Six pupil saw a cat on a painting by the famous artist and based her poem on it.

She said: "It took me days to write, but I thought it was good when I finished it. I was still really surprised when I won."

Her school had three other pupils in the competition. John Yearsley, aged six, was runner-up and Mary Malley, aged seven, and Tessa Darbyshire, aged six, were highly commended.

Pat Beddows, headteacher, said: "This is really good news, they have all done so well. Emily's poem was well written and nicely presented."

Mrs Darbyshire said the £1,000 presented to the school will go towards paying for equipment for a new computer suite.

As part of Emily's prize, the pupils will also receive a visit from a Writer in Residence at the Lowry.

St Peter and St Paul RC Primary School pupil Rebecca Carr, aged 10, was also highly commended.