STAFF at a Northwich primary school are jumping for joy after it was named Britain's joint best primary school in a national report.

Little Leigh Primary School, on Shutley Lane, is in the top slot for consistently high examination performances in league tables, published in a national newspaper on Sunday.

Pupils at the school have achieved an average point score of 32.1 in their Key Stage Two tests over the past three years, which puts them ahead of thousands of primary schools in Britain.

Headteacher John Hetherington said: "We're over the moon -- there must be more than 20,000 primary schools in the country.

"The results are aggregated over a number of years and this shows consistency of good results over the years."

He added: "The aim is to make the school exciting and vibrant for children at the same time - we have to have an exciting and broad curriculum for the children as well as achieving the academic results."

Mr Hetherington has been headteacher at the school for 14 years and has watched it grow and develop in many different ways.

He said: "When I started there were 69 pupils and now there are 155 - it's been great.

"We've got seven new members of staff this year and these results are lovely for them too."