A Whitehaven youngster has won a junior talent show.

Nine-year-old Olivia Watson fought off competition from children all over the north of England to take the Northern Star junior title in Blackpool this week.

The young performer gave a rendition of Wouldn't It Be Loverly from My Fair Lady.

She said she was over the moon to have won.

"I wasn't nervous at all, just really excited," she said.

Olivia started dancing when she was three but only took up singing eighteen months ago.

Her mother, Joanne Dempsey, said: "It started when we got her a karaoke machine one Christmas. We heard her singing in the house and thought, she's actually really good!

"That's when we decided to take her to singing lessons.

"She's always singing at home now - in the garden, the bath, on the way to school.

"We're all so proud of her - she just takes it all in her stride. She'd never had a singing lesson until eighteen months ago."

Olivia now has her sights set on a career in show business.

She said: "I'd like to be an actress or a singer one day."

Olivia added that she was also looking forward to auditioning for the Sleeping Beauty pantomime at the Sands Centre later this year, and that she would like to compete in next year's Northern Star, where she would be in the senior category this time.

The annual competition, held at Viva Blackpool, is organised by West End star Ashley Lloyd.

He set up Northern Star in 2015 to give children in the North of England the chance to perform in front of industry professionals, in the hope it will inspire them to realise their dreams.