TWO young artists have topped a competition after being challenged to make a 'waste wizard' out of recyclable rubbish.

Anna Clark, who is in Year 4 at Salway Ash Primary School and Samuel Miller, in Year 2 at Thorncombe St Mary Primary School, were both chosen as winners for their creative use of discarded items that can be recycled.

The waste wizards competition, organised by Dorset Waste Partnership (DWP), aimed to help children learn about recycling by firing up their imaginations and involving parents and carers in ideas.

The DWP launched the contest and asked eight schools to transform objects that can be recycled using the kerbside Recycle for Dorset collection service into their own wizard characters.

Each school picked winners from key stages one and two, to be judged for the two top prizes - all of whom won some special recycling prizes.

Anna’s wizard was created using an orange juice bottle, a yoghurt pot, an egg box and recycled paper and cardboard.

Staff at the DWP were impressed with the range of recycling materials that she used, plus the trouble she had taken to incorporate a recycling theme into her design.

Samuel’s wizard was made using a juice bottle, egg carton, vitamin box, recycled paper and cardboard.

Anna and Samuel were presented with ‘eco packs’ filled with fun, environmentally-friendly goodies by the chairman of the DWP Joint Committee, Cllr Anthony Alford along with the DWP’s own Walter the Wizard.

Cllr Alford said: “A huge congratulations and thank you go to everyone who took part in the competition.

"It’s always wonderful to see the imagination and creativity of these children.

"While there’s no magic that can make rubbish disappear, by reusing and recycling our household waste we can reduce the amount that goes to landfill. This saves money for essential public services and is much better for the environment.”