A teenager is celebrating after being awarded a highly sought-after engineering scholarship from the Arkwright Scholarships Trust.

It means that Lucie Gresham-Hill, 15, from Little Fransham between Dereham and Swaffham, will receive financial sponsorship, mentoring and work experience with an employer in the construction industry.

To be successful the student from the University Technical College Norfolk had to complete an aptitude exam, followed by an interview at the University of Cambridge.

'It was quite a long process,' she said. 'I had to prepare for the interview whilst I was revising for my GCSEs, so it was quite hard work to balance it all, but I got there in the end. I really didn't expect to get the scholarship, so when I did it was crazy, it took ages to sink in, I couldn't believe it.'

She hopes her experience will one day allow her contribute to humanitarian work by working as an engineer on reconstruction projects around the world.