A YOUNG girl from Maldon Primary School has taken gold in a national judo competition.

Evie Mitchell, 6, attended the All England Judo Federation Championships in Walsall last week where she beat down the competition to become the champion of her age and weight group.

The championships saw more than 100 people take part, with Evie beating the four other children in her age group on the day.

Evie, who lives near Maldon, has been training with the Mill Judo Club in Rayleigh where her father coaches, as well as working with clubs in Basildon and Bishops Stortford. On average she trains two to three times per week.

Evie’s mother Vikki Mitchell said: “Evie has been doing judo now for about three years, with her dad being a coach it was something we were interested in getting her into when she became old enough to start training.

“She performed so well in Walsall and was so chuffed with herself when she came out with gold, it’s something she’s worked really hard for.

“Evie’s enjoyed being really active with judo and training regularly, she wants to do more competitions in the future and I can’t wait to see her improve and become even better.”