A Schoolgirl who made the final of a national writing competition has claimed a runners up spot.

Tara Sapkota, 13, an Upton Court Grammar School pupil, was in the final ten competitors of the National Young Writers’ Awards 2017, organised by Explore Learning.

Although she was not the victor, she is still set to walk away with prizes and her father, Govinda, 43, said she had made the family proud.

Tara, of Stranraer Gardens, Slough, had written a short story for the competition based on a group of people on a faraway planet.

It is the second time she has progressed in a national competition, having claimed a BBC young writers’ runners up spot two years ago.

Mr Sapkota said she had made himself and mother, Crizelda, very proud.

He said: “She reads a lot of books. I said to her ‘you can be a good writer if you go on because you are getting better and better.”