Two Croydon girls are writing a new passage in their lives after being named winners in a national competition.

Charlotte Kirby, 10, from the Woodside Academy and seven-year-old Sumayya Dewji of Cumnor House School for Girls were among more than 35,000 kids from across the country that took part in the National Young Writers' Awards.

The competition, now in its tenth year, has been running for the past three months and invited children from across the UK to write a 500-word story about ‘heroes’ – whether that’s their parents, a policeman or an idol of their choice.

This year the writing task was judged best-selling children’s author David Walliams who praised the standard of the entries.

“I was overwhelmed by the quality and creativity of the stories I was reading and was so impressed that this broad range of exciting ideas have come from such young writers," he said.

"Each piece of writing drew me in and kept me captivated by clever and observant story lines and engaging characters.

"We definitely have some future star authors here.”