YOUNG Huddersfield dancers have certainly got talent – and they have a national trophy to prove it.

But that wasn’t enough to convince Simon Cowell when the Delicious dance troupe came up against the TV impresario on one of the biggest shows on the box.

The group, from Bodyrockerz Dance School in Honley, are officially the best freestyle dancers of their age in the country after they won the Nationwide Freestyle Dancing title in November.

They defeated 12 teams in a regional heat and seven other finalists to claim the International Dance Teacher’s Association prize.

The 16 10 to 13-year-olds had a double reason to celebrate when they found out they had been picked to compete on ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent.

But they were caught up in controversy when they travelled to Manchester to face the three judges from the last series – Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan – and new judge, Kelly Brook.

Delicious were the first of the 120 acts in the first audition to take to the stage.

Their performance impressed Brook and Holden, who wanted to send them through to the next round. But Cowell and Morgan voted to put them out.

Bodyrockerz dance teacher Amanda Johnson said: “We were told if there was a split between the four judges, the audience would be the fifth judge.

“The audience all stood up, cheered and clapped, but Simon Cowell still decided to put us out.

“We were the first to find out that there would be four judges this year and the first act up, which in itself was a bit daunting.

“We were also the first trial of a new way of voting and they didn’t follow it through.

“It was a bit disappointing but we are taking away the positives and we realise it’s all about what looks good for the TV.”

The girls were told they were energetic, professional and confident, but too similar to other freestyle teams.

The show has since been hit by controversy after Brook was fired as a judge after just a week.

Cowell admitted the format wasn’t suited to having a fourth judge.

Amanda said: “We were the first to experience it and you could tell it wouldn’t work.”

But ITV said Delicious were not a victim of the format.

A spokesman said: “To go through to the next round you needed three ‘yes’ votes from the judges as opposed to two in previous years. They just didn’t get the three votes needed.”

Amanda said the Delicious girls were looking forward to getting back to competition.

And she said the national title was something to be proud of.

“They have all been dancing with us since a young age and really deserved the win, after years of hard work and dedication,” she said.

It is not yet known if their audition will feature when Britain’s Got Talent airs later this year.

As well as the team’s success in the national championships, Ben Scott and Betsy Rowley won the under-nines freestyle pairs title.