A YOUNG girl from St Helens has kept up a family tradition by gaining a place at the famed Chetham's School of Music in Manchester.

Thirteen-year-old Anna Long, who attends Tower College in Rainhill, will follow in the footsteps of her two elder brothers who attended the school and are now serving in the Royal Marines Band in Plymouth.

Anna from Cowley Hill Lane, who plays the tenor horn and piano and has been a member of both the York Street and Rainford Brass bands, has been accepted to start at the top music school this September.

A prize winner in the John Houghton Music Festival and a regular winner in the Merseyside Police Music Festival, Anna will now receive academic and music tuition of the highest level.

Chetham's provides an all-round academic education and specialist tuition for 290 musically gifted pupils, aged eight to eighteen.