THE waiting is nearly over for proud family and friends desperate to hear who has won the Evening News Baby of the Year Competition.

Promotions manager Sarah Taylor said eight little champions and one overall winner had now been chosen and parents would be notified by post in the next few days.

The results will be published in the newspaper by next week.

"It was very close and very difficult to judge from 10 finalists in each category," she said.

"But this year's response was beyond our expectations and we would like to say thanks once again to everyone who took part."

A record-breaking 54,000 number of votes were counted during April, before an Evening News panel of judges picked the winners and runners-up.