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Belfast schoolboy (5) pens story about superhero lollipop to win regional heat of writing competition

St Brides Primary School pupil Tomas Sidebottom, pictured with Anna Deery, has won the accolade for the Northern Ireland section of the National Young Writers’ Award
St Brides Primary School pupil Tomas Sidebottom, pictured with Anna Deery, has won the accolade for the Northern Ireland section of the National Young Writers’ Award St Brides Primary School pupil Tomas Sidebottom, pictured with Anna Deery, has won the accolade for the Northern Ireland section of the National Young Writers’ Award

A five-year-old Belfast boy who penned a story about a superhero lollipop man has been named as a regional winner for a prestigious writing competition.

Tomas Sidebottom, from St Bride's Primary School, won the accolade for the Northern Ireland section of the National Young Writers’ Award for his story, 'Victor the Danger Stopping Man' - a tale of how a crossing patrol man protects children with his magic sign.

The competition invited children from across the UK to write a 500-word story about 'heroes', with comedian and children’s author David Walliams judging the entries.

Around 39,000 children from across the UK entered in a bid to win a trip to Disneyland Paris and £500 worth of books for their school.

The top 10 national runners-up will be announced on June 11, while the national winner will be crowned on June 18 with a surprise visit from Walliams to their school.

Walliams said: "I was overwhelmed by the quality and creativity of the stories I was reading and was so impressed that this broad range of exciting ideas have come from such young writers.

"Each piece of writing drew me in and kept me captivated by clever and observant story lines and engaging characters. We definitely have some future star authors here."

Charlotte Gater from Explore Learning, which organised the competition, said: "This year’s National Young Writers’ Awards attracted a record number of entries so Tomas Sidebottom should be very proud of their success.

"We were blown away by the number of children who were inspired to write heroic tales.

"It is amazing to have David pick our winning entry this year and clearly inspire so many children to put pen to paper."