YOUING cartoonist Jake South is one of ten finalists in a competition run by Child Line.

Jake, 11, of Newbury Avenue, Calne, entered the competition to design a cartoon strip exploring and illustrating the concept of respect, using the Helping Kids Grow cartoon series and the George Street Kids.

The competition was open to children aged 11 and under and winners each received an Apple iMac computer for their schools, as well as the prize of having their entries professionally reproduced, framed, and signed by Mark Speight, from the children's art programme SMART.

The overall winner, Charlotte Pegg, from Essex, will see her cartoon reproduced on the back of thousands of Kellogg's Corn Flakes boxes in the autumn.

Esther Rantzen, the chairman of Child Line, Mr Speight and newsreader Sophie Raworth formed the judging panel and presented prizes at the awards ceremony.

Ms Rantzen said: "Judging the cartoons was enormous fun and we were amazed by all the brilliant ideas.

"Choosing the winners from almost 1,000 entries was no easy task.

"Our congratulations and of course our respect, goes to Jake and the nine other winners for their wonderful cartoons.

"They really did show a good understanding of the issues of respect, tolerance, compassion and empathy. In our minds though, all the children who entered are winners."

The Community and Public Affairs Director at Kellogg's, Chris Woodcock, said: "We hope the competition helped more young children understand the messages of the Helping Kids Grow campaign caring for others, self-help and communication."