THESE three teenagers have been chosen to lead this year's Basildon and Pitsea Carnival.

All eyes will be on carnival queen Charlee Kenny and princesses Laura Gordon and Emma Booth when the parade is staged, on June 24.

The carnival court was picked by three judges to front the carnival committee's fundraising efforts for the coming year.

George Coleman-Wood, chairman of the Basildon and Pitsea Carnival Association, said: "We're expecting yet another fantastic year.

"We already have 30 entries from groups wanting to take part and for the first time we are hoping to track down former carnival court members to join in the parade, too."

Queen Charlee, 16, of Glenmere, Vange, is a pupil at Barstable School. She plans to go on to Seevic College, Thundersley, in September to study childcare and eventually hopes to run her own nursery.

Her two chosen charities for the year will be St Luke's Hospice and Breast Cancer Research.

Princess Laura, 15, of Long Riding, Basildon, is a prefect at Barstable School and hopes for a career in nursing. She says she is looking forward to travelling to new places and meeting people with the carnival court.

She has nominated the NSPCC as her charity.

Fellow princess Emma Booth, 15, of Mellow Purgess, Laindon, is a De La Salle School pupil.

She said she was proud to be chosen as a princess, following in the footsteps of her sister Kayleigh, who performed the same role in 2000.