STUDENTS from a Marlborough school have been taking part in a nationwide competition to find the country's top young spelling wizard.

Schools from the Shetlands in the north to Penzance in the South West have entered their students in the contest organised by BBC 1.

As the BBC press office put it: "Local skools compete to make speling mistaks a thing of the passed!"

Students from St John's School and Community College in Marlborough have been taking part in the initial rounds. The top spellers will then go forward to regional heats for the Hard Spell programme. The winners of these heats will compete against each other in the national finals to be televised in November.

The contestants have their first televised challenge on Saturday when they have to face a panel of judges including linguists and dictionary experts.

Students aged 11 to 14 are taking part with ten regional heats across the country.

The programme will be hosted by TV AM and lottery presenter Eamonn Holmes. He said: "Hard Spell is a chance for viewers at home to see how they can do. It's an opportunity to put themselves and their local schools on the map and it will be great for families across the country to play along."

The Hard Spell final will be filmed in London.

No-one was available at St John's this week to comment as the school is on half-term break.