Bright young stars from south Norfolk have been honoured this week in the Bernard Matthews Youth Awards.Now in their second year, the awards celebrate inspirational young people from Norfolk and Suffolk in a variety of categories supported by the EDP, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award and the OPEN Youth Trust.

Teenagers from the Mercury area were among the bright young stars from Norfolk and Suffolk honoured in the Bernard Matthews Youth Awards.

Of the eight �1,000 section awards, two went to south Norfolk youngsters.

Fourteen-year-old Josh Worley from Tharston was awarded the culture award for setting up South Norfolk Youth Action Radio.

Josh helped secure �48,000 of funding for the station which was officially opened on Saturday and is run at Long Stratton Leisure Centre by a team of 25 young people, including some who are not in education, employment or training (NEET).

Emily Rout, 18, from Tibenham, won the young farmer award after being a finalist last year. Emily, a member of Norfolk Young Farmers, has been combining studying for a foundation degree in agricultural management with developing her own dairy herd and working to get more young people involved in agriculture. She is especially keen to promote stock judging to young people.

Kieron Jessup, 17, from Eye, was shortlisted for a sports award for his athletics achievements, including being accepted into the athletics squad for Mencap England.

Toby Greenwood, 18, from Little Ellingham, was named among the final three in the environment section for his conservation work on Norfolk wildlife reserves.

Now in their second year, the awards celebrate inspirational young people from Norfolk and Suffolk in a variety of categories supported by the EDP, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award and the OPEN Youth Trust.

The winners and finalists were joined on stage by TV sports presenter Jake Humphrey who described the young people at the awards ceremony as 'absolutely incredible' and said it was great to be able to celebrate just how fantastic young people in Norfolk and Suffolk really are.

'To hear about all of the great things they have been doing is brilliant,' he said.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has also sent a special congratulations message to the winners and finalists.

He said: 'I want to pay tribute to each and every entrant. Their stories demonstrate this country's huge depth of talent, bravery, determination and sporting prowess that so often goes unreported.'

Jeff Halliwell, UK managing director of Bernard Matthews Farms, described the standard of entries for this year's awards as 'awe-inspiring'.

'For these young people to have achieved so much at such an early age is really amazing and humbling,' he said.

'It is an inspiring collection of stories that we have heard, not just from the winners but from all of the finalists.'

In between the award winners being announced the audience enjoyed street dance, beatboxing, hip hop and other entertainment by youngsters from The Garage in Norwich.