A TALENTED youngster is looking forward to a stint on a West End stage as a dancer in Billy Elliot the Musical.

Nina Bell, 11, of the Broadway, Thorpe Bay, has just started her secondary education at the Sylvia Young Theatre School, in London.

Only last term she left Thorpe Hall School, in Southend, hoping to follow in the footsteps of other Sylvia Young graduates, such as Denise van Outen, Emma Bunton and Amy Winehouse.

After only two weeks at her new school, she has been chosen to dance in the West End show.

She said: “It has all happened so quickly and we start rehearsals next week.

“I have to be ready to perform with the new cast when the show opens in November and I’m so excited.”

Nina started dancing aged two, when she joined the Angela Allport Performing Arts school, based at LA Fitness, in Thorpe Bay.