PAUL McCartney has given a student from Preston the chance to make it to the big time.

Sam Rankin has won a prestigious place at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA).

Sam, 20, of Broughton, hopes to follow in McCartney's footsteps and become big in the music business.

She has already taken a major step down that road - she has sung in front of the Queen and famous musicians and actors at the school's formal opening.

Sam, who is doing a degree in Performing Arts, is getting used to meeting showbiz legends - many of them pop into her classes from time to time.

She said: "Paul McCartney was very supportive. He said: 'good luck, stick with it and put 100 per cent into it and you will get 100 per cent out of it. Never give up'." The former pupil of Broughton High School and Preston College has done well just to get on the course. She's one of just 200 student chosen from around 8,000 applicants worldwide.

She said: "I think I was chosen because of my enthusiasm. I love singing and I think I have a lot to offer.

Sam started her career in amateur dramatics with the Preston Musical Society. She now has links with professional agencies and has done some work for television.

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