AN essay on 'how Britain is changing' won a pupil of Skipton Girls High School the title Young Geographer of the Year.

Sixth former Hannah Thom won the senior competition of the national competition run by the Royal Geographical Society and open to children and young people from nine to 18 years old.

Jodie Smith, the school's head of geography, said Hannah was a devoted and enthusiastic geographer.

"She has always demonstrated a love of both human and physical aspects of the subject, and the standard of her final RGS submission was outstanding and showed a real in depth knowledge of changing hydrology in Britain and various human factors influencing this."

Hannah, in her final year at the high school, plans to continue with geography at university.

Each year, the competition receives entries from thousands of pupils from hundreds of schools.

Steve Brace, RGS head of education and outdoor learning, said:“This year students explored geographical change from many different perspectives. We were incredibly impressed with the entries we received. Many focused on how Britain’s physical features are changing in response to a wide range of geographical processes, while others focused on social, cultural or political change.”