GREEN FINGERED Grace Wensley is in the pink after winning first prize in the regional final of the national school's Easy Wave Petunia Competition.

On Saturday Grace, her mum Sarah and her grandmother Carol will enjoy a VIP trip from her home in Bromsgrove to the NEC in Birmingham in a stunning, pink 1959 chauffeur-driven Cadillac, courtesy of Webbs of Wychbold.

The seven-year-old's prize plant will be judged against other regional winners at the NEC as part of the BBC Gardeners' World Live Show.

The overall winner will win vouchers worth £100 and a £1,000 cheque for their school.

Grace, a pupil at Meadows First School in Stourbridge Road, beat off stiff competition from 13 junior schools who between then entered more than 240 pots of the showy, pink plants at the regional final, which was held at Webbs Garden Centre, Wychbold, last Saturday.

She received a handsome cup, a certificate and a t-shirt to wear on Saturday. The winner from each school also won a £10 Webb's gift voucher.

The competition is aimed at encouraging young gardeners and is organised by the Horticultural Trades Association in conjunction with garden centres.

Before Easter children taking part were each give an Easy Wave petunia plant, compost and a pink pot to grow them in.

Grace, who enjoys helping her mum and dad tend the garden at their Lowes Hill home, said: "I'm looking forward to Saturday."

The competition judge was Advertiser/Messenger chief reporter Pete Lammas, who said that the standard of all entries was high - making the choice of a winner very difficult.