A dance troop from Burton will head to the Blackpool Winter Gardens for the final of a national competition after coming first in the regional heats.

Dancers from the Stacey Jones Dance Academy got through the heats held in Dudley on Sunday, July 9, in Dance Challenge UK competition.

It was the first time 31-year-old dance teacher Stacey Jones has ever entered her girls into a competition, and some of those in the squad had never danced before joining the academy just 12 weeks earlier.

The girls, who are all aged between six and nine, impressed judges with their rendition of Material Girl by Madonna. The mixture of ballet, tap, modern and acro-gymnastics proved to be a winning combination, and the team came first.

Stacey Jones and her team after being crowned the winners of the West Midlands heats

Miss Jones, from Branston , works as a full-time dance teacher coaching dancers of all ages and runs classes five days a week.

She said: “When they announced we had won, I ran up on stage. I don’t think I was supposed to, but I was just so proud of my girls!

“They didn’t realise they had won; they just saw the trophy. I had to explain to them that they had come first.”

The group will now look forward to competing in the final alongside everyone who came first, second, third or fourth in the regional heats across the country. Mum-of-one Stacey said that they have got a few tricks up their sleeve to try to clinch the first place trophy in November.

She said: “We’re going to make the routine a little bit harder and work to make it cleaner.”

The team will head to the Winter Gardens on November 11 and November 12 for the grand final.