SEVENTEEN young dancers from Basingstoke are just a step away from the British Arts national dance finals.

The pupils from the Jeannine Greville Dance Academies have qualified for the regional semi-finals of the British Arts competition and hope to make it all the way to London.

They will compete in various categories, such as ballet, tap, modern jazz dance, acrobatics, authentic national dance, character, song and dance, solo song and drama.

The pupils train at Brighton Hill Community School on Saturday mornings and The Vyne Community School, in Vyne Road, on Wednesday evenings.

Jeannine Greville has high hopes for the dancers.

She said: "If enthusiasm and hard work are anything to go by, then they certainly deserve to make it through to the finals."

The finals will be held in late May at the Commonwealth Theatre in London.