A sparkling spell has reaped top titles for a trio from Forfar's Delma Wilson School of Highland Dancing, helping maintain the proud place Angus has established for itself at the pinnacle of the sport.

Multiple world champion and current adult title holder David Wilton and 12-year-old Anthea Bundy were the school's ambassadors on an exciting trip Down Under and they each proved unbeatable in their Australian outings.

The Antipodean adventure got underway with championship wins in the adult and 12-year categories respectively at the Festival of Tartans event in New South Wales.

Just a day later, David and Anthea delivered the highlight of their trip when they each secured Champion of Champions crowns in the southern hemisphere's most prestigious Highland Dancing event against top international talent from Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa.

The Wizards of Oz then moved on to Melbourne to round off a memorable trip - and Scottish success story - with championship triumphs in the Australian Commonwealth competition at the city's Ringwood Highland gathering.

David and Anthea set themselves up for Australian success with wins at Scotland's first championship of the year, the Central Scotland event at Glasgow's Kelvin Hall, where Letham's Sophie Brown made it a triumphant triple for the Wilson school.

Sophie - like David a reigning Cowal champ - then enjoyed double delight whilst her fellow dancers were Down Under when she stepped out a week later to deliver the top performance amongst around 600 competitors in the United Kingdom Alliance competition at Edinburgh's Meadowbank Stadium, earning not only the nine-years championship but also the Dancer of the Day accolade. In the BATD City of Glasgow championship Sophie then took the runner-up slot.

The trio's triumphs have capped an auspicious start to the competition season for the Delma Wilson School, with several other dancers also pushing themselves to new competition heights and that continued at the weekend's European championships in Fort William.

David and Anthea won their respective titles, and Leanne Wood was sixth in the adult line-up, to continue a fine run of form which has seen her take second overall at the UKA event, third at the City of Glasgow championship and 4th in the line-up at Kelvin Hall.

Emma Jane Stewart from Padanaram also had a successful UKA outing, winning the 11-years pre-championship category and Heather Buchanan was sixth overall in the 13-years championship.

Away from the boards, the young stars are also well into a fund-raising fling to gather vital cash for a planned trip to Canada next summer and have enjoyed generous support so far from a number of businesses, organisations and individuals in the Forfar area.