With Christmas approaching, Dacorum Borough Council invited local school children from across the borough to take part in their Christmas card design competition.

Entrants were asked to design the council’s offical Christmas Card. The theme was "The Magic of Christmas".

All junior schools in Dacorum were invited to take part in the competition. Six schools participated, putting forwards nearly 300 entries.

The winning entry, by Casey, 10, and the three runners up were chosen by Sally Marshall, chief executive, councillor Neil Harden, portfolio holder for resident and regulatory services, and Julie Still, group manager, resident services.

The winner was announced at Chaulden Junior School during assembly on Friday, December 6. Ms Marshall presented Casey with a book token, a certificate and a box of Christmas sweets. The three runners up received a certificate and a box of Christmas chocolates.

All participating schools will receive tins of Christmas sweets for their Christmas parties.

Sally Marshall, chief executive, said: "I would like to thank all the children and schools for their entries. It has been very hard indeed to choose the winner out of so many beautiful designs. We have many gifted children in the borough as these designs show.

"As the theme was 'The magic of Christmas', my fellow judges and I chose Casey as the winning entry as it portrayed this perfectly. Well done to Casey."