Cockermouth School pupil Alastair Thomas was crowned British orienteering champion at the weekend.

Thomas took on the individual long distance course at the Burwarton Estate in Shropshire in the M16 age group category.

And the West Cumberland Orienteering Club member came out on top in a time of 45:52 to win the class by over five minutes to take the crown.

And in another boost he has now been selected to represent Great Britain at the European Youth Orienteering Championships in Poland at the end of June. 

He is also named in the provisional team selected to represent Great Britain at the Junior European Cup which takes place in Scotland at the end of September.

The British Championship courses were challenging and technical, with a mix of open moorland, marshes and forest. 

There were top 10 finishes for 12 WCOC members overall, with more joy in the relay competition on day two.

No fewer than five of its teams finished on the podium. 

Silver medals went to the teams of Caitlin Irving, Carys Thomas and Rosie Spencer, the team of Daniel Spencer, Ben Breeze and Alastair Thomas running against older opposition and the team of Matthew Vokes, Simon Hunter and Mike Billinghurst in the men's short race.

Bronze medals went to the team of Ben Goodwin, Wilf Teasdale and Joe Goodwin and the side made up of Lynne Thomas, Ange Jackson and Catherine Wetherfield.

Some of the teams missed out on gold by a matter of seconds, giving high hopes for more successes in the future.