CREATIVE ten-year-old Matthew Hill won �1,000 for his school and an iPad for himself after he triumphed in a national competition.

The Newton Poppleford Primary School pupil designed a mascot for a recycling initiative and beat of 3,000 other entrants to land the top prize.

Matthew’s design, ‘Recyclops’, caught the eye of Support Your School judges, writes Charlie Lister.

The initiative aims to allow schools to turn rubbish into cash while simultaneously helping the environment.

Matthew, from Newton Pop, was thrilled with his prize and proud of his design.

He said: “Recyclops is based on characters from books I’ve read. It has excellent hearing and can hear when someone needs help with recycling.”

Newton Pop primary teachers will use the prize money to continue to develop their status as an eco-school.