A WANNABE writer from a Withymoor school has wowed comedian and scribe David Walliams on her way to winning a regional author’s award.

Ten-year-old Beth Bayliss, from Withymoor Primary School, has won a regional prize in the National Young Writers’ Award competition, which was judged by best-selling children’s author Walliams.

Children from across the UK were invited to pen a 500-word story about ‘heroes’ in this year’s contest – and Beth’s ‘Turbine Trouble’ tale caught the eye of the popular funnyman.

Her story tells the tale of a woman who battles against the odds to introduce a wind turbine to power her village’s electricity.

A record-breaking 39,000 children entered the competition – organised by tuition provider Explore Learning, which has a centre in Stourbridge – which is now in its tenth year.

The national champion – to be announced next week – will win a visit from Walliams to their school, a trip to Disneyland Paris and £500 worth of books for their school.

Walliams said: “I was overwhelmed by the quality and creativity of the stories I was reading and was so impressed that this broad range of exciting ideas have come from such young writers.

“Each piece of writing drew me in and kept me captivated by clever and observant story lines and engaging characters. We definitely have some future star authors here.”

Explore Learning provides English and maths tuition to children aged four to 14, with 139 centres located across the country.

Throughout the competition Explore Learning provided top writing tips from their creative writing team, previous winners, judges and best-selling authors via their website, social media and face to face.

Charlotte Gater, Head of Curriculum at Explore Learning said: “This year’s National Young Writers’ Awards attracted a record number of entries so Beth should be very proud of her success.

“We were blown away by the number of children who were inspired to write heroic tales. Well done to everyone who entered who has set the bar so high for next year!”