TEENAGER Jamie Leinhardt snapped a "purrfect" picture of his pet kitten, Poppy.

And now the 14-year-old is like a cat that got the cream after being named as the Junior Photographer of the Year by the Cats Protection League.

Jamie, of Ferndale Avenue, Whitefield, beat off more than 300 entries to scoop the award and admits he was lucky to capture ten-month-old Poppy on film at all.

The teenager, pictured with Poppy, said: "It's great to win. I never thought I would. It was pure luck that I took the photo right at that moment when she stuck out her tongue."

Jamie admitted she was a scrawny cat but added: "I love Poppy even though she's a bit of a scrag hag."

His mum, Beverley, rescued Poppy after discovering her in a car park in March.

She said: "I had just left work and I heard this pitiful crying. I saw the kitten and couldn't leave her. She seemed too small to be out on her own."

Jamie, a pupil at Manchester Grammar School, has been interested in photography for a while, but the Cats Protection competition was the first he has entered.

He wins a camera, six months' supply of Friskies cat food and pet care goodies.

He has also nominated Radcliffe Cats Protection Branch to receive six free cases of cat food.