BUDDING newshound Rebecca Keelagher beat off hundreds of young writers to win through to the final of a nationwide competition.

Rebecca, aged 12, was one of five finalists bidding for the chance to report on a conservation project in Africa for BBC TV's Newsround programme.

Rebecca, from Somerset Close, Congleton, is one of the 100,000 teenage members of Press Pack, the country's biggest club for young journalists.

The teenagers were asked to write a 200-word report on a day in the life of an endangered animal for a competition run by Radio Times and Newsround Press Pack.

Rebecca won a place in the final after impressing the judges with her imaginative piece on lions in a nature reserve, and she was invited to BBC Television Centre for an audition.

"Rebecca likes writing, and has been doing a topic on Kenya at school,'' said her mum, Linda.

The competition winner will fly out to Lake Nakuru to report on how the World Wide Fund for Nature is helping conserve wildlife in a sanctuary devoted to looking after black rhino.

Rebecca is a pupil at Dane Valley High School, Congleton, and her report can be seen on Ceefax pages 517.

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