A NEW Hampshire-wide dance competition is proving to be a big success.

Dance for Life is organised by the British Red Cross and has attracted hundreds of youngsters.

The first heat was held at Winchester College and attracted more than 100 performers and an audience of 200.

Braishfield Primary School near Romsey is going through to the final in June.

Fundraiser Laura Deacon said: "It went really well. The winners were outsiders as all the other teams were from dance schools. They were very happy to win. They didn't think they were going to."

Also competing were: Extremes School of Dance from Basingstoke; Basingstoke Academy of Dance; Dancescape from Southampton and Urban Cheer.

The next heat will be in Portsmouth on April 29, followed by Totton on May 6 and Petersfield on May 20. Winners from each heat will then compete in the final at Romsey's Plaza Theatre on June 17.

The British Red Cross hopes the event will help promote awareness of its work.

During the competition there were presentations about the work of the charity and a fundraising raffle. Each dance group was asked to raise £50 and Extremes raised £330.

Miss Deacon said the competition had been so well received they were considering making it an annual event.

She added: "This has been a pilot but we hope to repeat it next year. The kids have really enjoyed it."