STRATTON-BASED gymnastics club Esprit saw some of their younger talents showcase their skills at the national Grades event in Melksham.

The club has a long tradition of producing some of the best gymnasts in the country, with Commonwealth Games rhythmic gymnastics medallist Laura Halford among their number.

However, on this occasion the artistic competitors took centre stage, with five taking part in the national event.

The aim was to first pass their grade but there was also the added incentive of potential qualification for the South West team at the National Grades Finals at Stoke-on-Trent in May 2015.

Emily Broadfield, Shannon White and Eloise Johnson competed at Grade 2 and all performed well with passes.

The three performed new moves, for the very first time in competition with Johnson and White, both competing a full twist and Broadfield competing both full twist and back away.

Johnson also received a highly commended from the judges and qualified as a reserve for the South West team.

At Grade 3 Tess Armstrong and Katie Francis were competing and again both impressed by passing, with Armstrong receiving the club's second highly commended of the day.

The stand-out performer though was Katie Francis.

She achieved an exceptional distinction for her routines and third place overall to win the bronze medal.

This result meant she won a place in the South West team for next month.

Esprit's head coach Hannah Wickens said: "All five girls worked extremely hard in the run up to this important event and all put in strong performances as a result.''

"Katie in particular was outstanding and to automatically qualify for a place in the South West team for the National Grade finals was an impressive achievement at her first attempt".

"These results were a real team effort and testament to the club's excellent coaching team, the gymnasts and their parents.

"We are all looking forward to going along and supporting Katie at her very first national competition.''