George Hastwell School from Walney are into the regional finals after coming through the Cumbria Schools boccia competition at Kendal Leisure Centre.

They qualified through finishing second in the PAN division for pupils with learning, behaviour or sensory disabilities at the annual event, which also saw juniors from Ulverston Victoria High School take part in what is a Paralympic sport.

Over 80 students aged between 11 and 19 from across the county came together to compete in the Cumbria county finals, with 17 schools taking part altogether.

They were spilt into two divisions; PD (physical Disability) and PAN, with three groups of four and one group of five for the PAN division and four teams playing in the PD division.

All games were refereed by students from local schools that have attended young officials training.

With there being so many PAN teams, the top two from each group went through to a quarter finals, with the tournament going into a straight knock-out format, while the PD teams played each other twice in a round robin format.

The top three from each division would then qualify for the regionals competition in Liverpool which will take place in February.

Organiser Hannah Paling said: “It’s such a great event for these children to be able to take part in - a vast majority of these children probably don’t take part in sports such as football, rugby or hockey, so it’s a great opportunity for them. It’s a great inclusive sport that can be played by all ages and abilities, plus you can pretty much play it anywhere- even in your front room.”