A MOTHER'S premonition became reality this week when 16-year-old Jess Carney was crowned Wirral's new young Poet Laureate.

The Weatherhead High School student triumphed in competition with hundreds of other entrants to claim a silver trophy and £100 in prize money at the culmination of this year's Chris Salmon Poetry Extravaganza Anthology.

Family and friends were among a specially-invited audience to see her receive her award from ex-Scaffold member John Gorman at a Bebington Civic Centre ceremony this week.

Jess's mum Carol, who lives in Wallasey Village, confessed: "I had a feeling she would win - it was a sort of premonition.

"The piece was beautifully written."

Jess described her work "Music in its colours" as a correlation between music and art.

She admitted to being "surprised and overwhelmed" by her success.

A week's work experience at the Wirral Globe last year convinced Jess that writing was her future.

She plans to pursue media studies at university after completing leaving Weatherhead in two years time.

The poetry extravaganza is dedicated to the memory of poetry lover Christopher Salmon, who died suddenly at the age of 15 in 2009.

His parents Julie and Rich Salmon, in conjunction with Wirral Libraries, launched the extravaganza in 2010 to encourage other young people to express themselves through poetry.

Prizewinners included: 

Adult: Catherine Evans, Judy Ugonna, Ben Parker.

Age 16-18: Aileen Anne Kearney, Sam Lloyd, Phoebe Watkinson, Age 11-16: Jess Carney, Dylan John Goorwappa, Richard Lee.

Age 11 and under: Heather Ross, Jennifer Neilson, Katie Bennett.