YOUNG people from two West Somerset schools found their voices for a contest that put the spotlight on their public speaking skills.

Six teams from Minehead and Danesfield middle schools took part in the Rotary Club of Minehead and the Quantocks 'Youth Speaks' competition, held in Minehead.

The teams - a chairman, main speaker and proposer of thanks - were each given ten minutes to present their views on issues relevant to them.

The winners - a Minehead team - saw chairman Tavey See, speaker Hatty Bohun and proposer of thanks Keziah Pledger impressing the judges with a presentation on 'Talking Proper'.

The runners-up were another team from Minehead featuring Stephanie Tucker, Lydia Dempsey and Xia Furse, while a team from Danesfield took third place thanks to the efforts of its members, Addy Gorman, Abbie England and Chloe Rendell.

Lydia also took the award for the best speaker with a thought provoking speech entitled 'Facebook - the Scourge of the Internet.'

All three teams will now go through to the Rotary district semi-final later this month.

Past president of the Rotary Club of Minehead Peter Sutton, who handed out the awards to the winners, said it was an amazing evening.

"It takes courage for young people to speak in public in this way.

"All the performances were excellent, the subjects well researched and their presentations clear," he said.

Pictured from the left are Keziah Pledger, Hatty Bohun, Tavey See and Lydia Dempsey.

Photo: Steve Guscott