ELEVEN-year-old Ellie Mae Dunstan is one of the youngest holders of a black belt in the art of Taekwondo.

She has been studying the martial art for only three years with the Pulse Taekwondo club and has done amazingly well to achieve her black belt, which she qualified for during a grading exercise in Mansfield.

And to celebrate her achievement she was a member of a nine-strong team who went to a competition in Barnsley, and Ellie Mae won gold in the patterns event.

This week she was heading up to Scotland for another tournament, along with teammates Chloe Wood and Olivia Harrison, and next month, instructor John Lockwood will be leading his squad to the British Nationals at Manchester’s Velodrome.

Anyone interested in taking up the sport, which is being included in next year’s Olympics, can contact Lockwood on 07946 021666 for class times and venues.