HORSE lovers Clare Francis and Tracey Whittle are £10,000 richer after their business scooped a prestigious award for young entrepreneurs.

Clare, 29, and Tracey, 28, run Pretty Ponies Ltd in Simonstone, supplying riding clothing and accessories to a range of clients, including some very famous ones.

They have supplied jackets to royal princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, as well as other celebrity clients including Jemima Khan, Grand National winning jockey and former cancer sufferer Bob Champion's children and Coronation Street star Bill Roache.

"Quite a lot of our clients feature in Hello magazine," joked Tracey, a former pupil of St Wilfrid's School, Blackburn.

Now their business has been recognised by winning the Flying Start Young Entrepreneur Award.

The business was set up in 1991 by former Westholme School pupil Clare, who started off by selling items from the back of her car at local horse shows.

Now they boast that they can kit out riders from head to toe.

The pair currently employ over a dozen full and part-time outworkers and operate a retail, wholesale and mail order business from a house in Whalley Road, Simonstone, which is now too small.

"The £10,000 will help us to move to new premises," added a delighted Tracey.

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