A TALENTED Southampton teenager is on her way to Florida after winning a national art competition.

Joanne Bell, 15, who attends Chamberlayne Park School, Weston, was one of more than 9,000 entries in the over-11s category of the National Schools Environmental Art Competition.

She made it through to the final 16 and faced a tense time as the winners were decided by a judging panel that included Eric Knowles from BBC TV's Antiques Roadshow and wildlife artist Alan Hunt.

Joanne was visibly shaking when she received her prizes, which included a television and video recorder for herself and a computer for her school.

She is now looking forward to flying off to DisneyWorld in Florida with her family.

She said: "I wanted to show that people care about wildlife and I'm so happy that the judges liked my picture.''

Rolf Harris hosted the awards ceremony and was delighted with the quality of the artwork produced: "It's tremendous to see such enthusiasm and talent from children.

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