DARWEN Moorland High School pupil Lucy Reed has won a scholarship at a top drama and dance college.

Lucy, 15, from Stacksteads, near Bacup, went to the Studio La Pointe college of dance in Leeds for the first time at the weekend and will continue to attend part-time until she has completed her GCSEs.

She will then study full-time for two years and is guaranteed a job on stage in London at the end of the course. The teenager, formerly of Avalon Way, Darwen, competed against hundreds of other hopefuls to win a place.

Her mum, Caroline, said: "She was ecstatic. I am extremely proud of her. She joined the Arena of Life in Blackburn two years ago and they noticed her talent. She is doing musical theatre and jazz dancing."