A NEWPORT girl has won gold in a national ‘Dream Car’ competition.

Designs for cars that use the power of music as fuel and others that help emergency services speed through heavy traffic were among more than 800 entries from talented young UK artists for this year’s Toyota Dream Car Art Contest.

Gold, silver and bronze prize winners were selected in three age groups. The talented winners were presented with their prizes at a ceremony hosted at Toyota’s UK headquarters in Surrey on 22 February.

Among the 12 to 15-year-olds, gold went to Ayesha Taniya from Newport, for The Future of Animal Protection. This helps clean the environment, so that everyone can live peacefully, and includes an animal shelter inside the car.

Having succeeded in the national contest, Miss Taniya, along with the winners from the other age groups, now qualifies for consideration for the competition’s global final, with the chance of winning a trip to Japan.

The judges were impressed both by the individual creativity and the concern the entrants demonstrated for the environment and caring for others.

The awards were presented by Paul Van Der Burgh, Toyota GB President and Managing Director, and Chris Hayes, Director of People and Planning.

All the gold award winners received iPads, while silver and bronze winners were given computer tablets; everyone took home a Toyota goody bag.