Students from Carshalton High School for Girls will be hoping to come up trumps when they challenge a group of peers from the House of Lords to a game of Minibridge this year.

The West Street school's Bridge Club has been invited to Westminster by Lord Skelmersdale, deputy speaker of the House of Lords, to a contest against himself and fellow peers in March.

The hereditary peer has already visited the students to check out the competition - and is likely to have come away realising they are no dummies.

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Halah Afghan gets practising

Started last year, the school Bridge Club was founded by maths teacher Amy Huber, and practices once a week with the help of bridge instructor Christine Atwood, of the English Bridge Union.

The girls will be taking part in their first ever competition, the all-Surrey Bridge Event, at St. Paul’s School in Barnes on February 7.