DANCERS from a Bolton youth group have become stars of the stage after winning trophies at a national competition.

Nine girls from the Shree Krishna Temple of Bolton showed of their skills at a dance competition in Leicester's De Montfort Hall last weekend, winning three trophies for their performances of traditional Indian folk dances.

The team performed two dances at the 42nd Raas Garba, organised by the Gujurat Hindu Association. The girls performed the raas dance with sticks celebrating the Hindu figure Krishna, followed by the garba, inspired by goddesses in the religion.

Team manager Meena Patel said the girls, who range in age from 12 to 20-years-old, rehearsed all summer for the contest on Sunday with the help of choreographer Manisha Solanki from Pranava Dance.

She said: "They spent most of their holiday practising long hours from July until the event, they spent all their time rehearsing. They competed against six other teams from around Leicester. We were the only ones from the North West."

The Krishna Temple dance group impressed the National Lottery to receive funding for their costumes, along with money from Bolton CVS for their trip, and did not disappoint on the day.

The group came first place for their performances of the raas dance and also earned the top prize for their costumes.

To round our their successful trip, the girls also achieved second place for their Garba dance and could not believe their marks.

Ms Patel said: "They screamed the place down when they found out they won, they were just so happy.

"I'm so proud of what they did. The effort they put in, it was phenomenal. They helped each other so much and really worked as a team."

For some of the girls in the team, this was a great send off ahead of starting a new chapter at university in the coming weeks. A new team from the Krishna Temple will start rehearsing this weekend.