A BUDDING young artist from Highbridge has moved a step further in becoming one of the designers of Royal Mail’s 2017 Christmas stamps.

As part of Royal Mail’s children’s Christmas Stamp Design Competition, the entry by Alice Panes, aged 7, of Mark Church of England VC First School, was chosen from amongst the 12,824 entries submitted from across the South West region.

Alice’s entry is one that has been shortlisted and will now go through to the next stage of the competition where judges will select their top two designs to represent the region in the national final.

Judges for the South West region will include: Phil Gibby from the Arts Council, artist, Mary Rouncefield, Ken McCormick from the Bristol Post and Geoff Braden from Royal Mail.

A national panel of judges will then select the two designs that will feature on this year’s First and Second Class Christmas stamps. The stamps will be on sale from Tuesday, November 7.

Alice has already won £100 in vouchers and £100 for her school, which will increase if she progresses in the competition.

Royal Mail has received over 200,000 entries from children aged 4-11 years old from across the UK in response to the question: ‘What does the Christmas season mean to you?’

Only three times before in Royal Mail’s history – 1966, 1981 and 2013 - have the official Christmas stamps been designed by children.

As with all Special Stamps issued by Royal Mail, both winning designs will have to be approved by The Queen. Other Christmas stamps for different postal rates, and a religious-themed issue, will also be available from 7 November 2017.