PUPILS have been giving their casting votes on the work of three authors.

St Margaret's Church of England Primary School, Pitsea, is one of only 50 schools in the country to be picked to take part in the Nestle Children's Bookprize.

As part of the competition pupils have been given three books by top children's authors to read and assess, They have been asked to pick their winner which will go forward to compete for the national prize.

Deputy headteacher at St Margaret's, Luke Bulpett, said it was a real honour for the school to be chosen to take part in the selection process.

He added: "It's a massive achievement to be picked to take part in this competition.

"The children have been putting in a lot of hard work and the teachers have also been working hard to promote reading in class."