DETERMINED teenager Stuart Tredree has refused to let his disability hold him back and scooped a prize in a national competition.

DETERMINED teenager Stuart Tredree has refused to let his disability hold him back and scooped a prize in a national competition.

The 15-year-old Cerebral Palsy sufferer beat off hundreds of other young hopefuls to win the first prize in the Mobility Roadshow 2009's Ready, Willing and Mobile competition.

He was first in the category of best entry by a young person with a disability with his design for a solar powered wheelchair.

The Northgate High School pupil will celebrate his success on Saturday when he will go to the roadshow and be presented with his prize by Olympic medal-winning swimmer and TV presenter Sharron Davies.

Stuart, who is affected in all four limbs and uses a wheelchair, will be accompanied by his proud grandmother Marilyn Tredree and staff from Northgate's special needs department.

He will be given a certificate and �1,000 which will go to school funds for an art project, except for �250 which will be spent on educational tools for Stuart.

The teenager, from Rushmere St Andrew, got the idea for the solar powered wheelchair when his own electric one kept breaking down.

He said: “The electric wheelchair can go a certain distance and then it stops and you have to charge it up.

“A solar powered one just keeps going.”

Stuart created the design in January and was over the moon to be told two weeks ago that he had won the first prize.

He said: “I told everybody in my family about it and the teachers.

“I was really excited.”

Teaching assistant Tom Baker who works with Stuart at the school said: “We are all very proud of Stuart.

“It was a good idea and we are really pleased for him that he won.”

Stuart added he could not have done the design without the help of physics teacher Jay Christopher and head of special educational needs Christine Clarke.

NOW in its fifth year, the Ready Willing & Mobile competition organised by the Mobility Roadshow seeks concepts from young people - both disabled and non-disabled aged seven to 16 years - which will help others with disabilities to be more independent and join in more at home, at school and at play.

Around 400 entries were received this year from schools and clubs across the United Kingdom.

The competition is organised and administered by the charity Mobility Choice, organiser of the Mobility Roadshow.

The Mobility Roadshow is an annual event which takes place at Kemble Airfield in Cirencester.

www.mobilityroadshow.co.uk