A TEENAGER has won a contest to spruce up a dreary entrance to his Fareham school.

Mitchell Knight, 15, will be awarded prize money of £1,000 to create a large community mural covering a stretch of concrete wall outside Henry Cort Community College in Hillson Drive.

Mitchell, of Atkins Place, Fareham, entered the 13 - 16 age category of the county council's Local Democracy Week competition last October.

Entrants were asked to submit suggestions for projects that would improve the quality of life in their community.

Mitchell said: "It's a really grey area and we've been waiting for ages to brighten it up so we saw the competition and thought here's our opportunity to do something about it."

He added: "A competition will be held for the design. We would like the mural to have people doing things like running and painting and having fun."

The college hosts sports clubs and playshemes at weekends and holidays as well as students during term-time.

Council leader Ken Thornber said: "The future of our county lies with these young people and initiatives such as these are a chance for them to become active citizens by letting us know what we can do to help improve their quality of life and opportunities."