TALENTED Hannah Orrell drew on her passion for wildlife to scoop first prize in a national art competition.

The 11-year-old Wey-mouth schoolgirl won top prize in a contest run by The Wildlife Trust and impressed the judges with her creative 3D collage of a barn owl.

Hannah, who is a pupil at All Saints School, beat hundreds of other entries from across Britain in the ten to 12 age category of the competition, which was run as part of the 30th anniversary celebrations of Wildlife Watch, the junior environmental action club of The Wildlife Trusts.

She said that an owl sitting on a telegraph pole, which she saw on her way home one evening, inspired her prize-winning entry.

Hannah, who lives in Chickerell, is so keen on wildlife and conservation that as a youngster she planted bamboo in her garden so that she could adopt a panda and while she was at Chickerell Primary School she started up a composting scheme.

She said: "I have always loved wildlife and I am really pleased that my collage did so well in the competition.

"I think conservation and protecting the wildlife is very important and I am going to keep doing what I can to help by trying to raise money."

Mum Liz Orrell said: "As a family, we like wildlife. When we find beasties, butterflies or moths we always try to identify them and Hannah has always been interested in wildlife internationally."

Hannah, who has three sisters and a brother, has won £100-worth of art material and her picture has been published in the current issue of Watchword, the UK Wildlife Watch members' magazine.

The Wildlife Trusts is a partnership of 47 Wildlife Trusts across Britain and has a membership of over 366,000.

For more information about joining Wildlife Watch or about the Trust call (01305) 264620.