THE sight of shiny new oil tankers around the lanes of North Cornwall and Devon has inspired more than a thousand school children to put their art and design talents to the test in a competition created by one of the Westcountry's longest-established oil delivery companies.

The overwhelming response since its Christmas launch has given the Mitchell & Webber judges an almost impossible job in picking the winners, but now they have the pleasure of announcing the top prizes for two pupils and their schools — to celebrate the opening of their new depot in Holsworthy.

Ten-year-old Charlie Vickery, from Clawton Primary School, spent three days designing a stunning 'new age' vehicle with colourful stripes and spots which no-one would be able to miss.

"I did work very hard on my design," she said, "but it's been great fun and I've seen the tankers in our area so that helped coming up with ideas. I wanted my tanker to be very bright and pretty and I think maybe that's why it got noticed!"

For the full report, and a round up of the area news and sport, please see this week's edition of the 'Post'.