A 12-year-old boy who struggles with dyslexia has come one step closer to his dream of becoming a games designer by winning a competition to create a new app.

Alex, from Hampshire, whose surname was not released, impressed judges in the CBBC contest with his idea Escargot Escape Artistes, in which players control snails and must avoid being eaten.

Competitors aged between six and 12 were judged at Buckingham Palace by a panel including the Duke of York.

His mother Louise said: ''I am finding the whole experience surreal. When I found out Alex had won I could not have been more shocked and surprised.

''I am so proud of him and, for Alex himself, it is potentially life changing as his dream is to be a games designer. This feels like a prize he deserves for dealing with so much and working so hard to get to where he has over the past four years.

''This is the best thing that has happened to our family since his diagnosis, which honestly was heart breaking, because we know Alex will always have to find 'coping' strategies to deal with his dyslexia as it will never go away.''

The game will be turned into a free app and released across the UK next year.

The competition was launched alongside the TV series Appsolute Genius with Dick and Dom as part of the BBC's Make it Digital campaign.

Alex's game is set in the Eiffel Tower's restaurant where the chef is trying to catch escargots to cook in garlic butter. Players must slime up the 2,731 steps of the tower to escape.

The budding app-builder said he was inspired to create the game because his parents had dinner in the restaurant of the Eiffel Tower on their honeymoon and his grandfather has a taste for snails in garlic butter.

Cheryl Taylor, Controller of CBBC, said: ''All of us were flabbergasted with the ingenuity of the ideas and in particular the detail and creativity of Alex's winning entry.

''It was hard to choose but we were unanimous in our final decision and are confident the CBBC audience will have great fun playing Alex's app when it is developed and available to download next year.''