THE writing was all over the walls of a Brent secondary school, on Tuesday last week, as students battled it out to become the next Banksy.

Two teams of creative youngsters from Kingsbury High School went head to head in a street art competition, scribbling their best graffiti designs over massive canvasses in their Princes Avenue playground.

Each group had the help of a professional street artist during the hour long drawing session and students were only allowed to use felt pens.

Kingsbury School teacher, Jennifer Kincaid, said: "The competition was a fantastic experience for the GCSE Art and Design students. They have gained so much working with the contemporary street artists. It has really captured their imaginations and inspired their studies."

The event was part of a series of competitions being staged by design company Monorex, which aim to teach teenagers about the legal avenues for using their artistic skills.

Winners of the competition, which was funded by the council's Neighbourhood Working initiative, were voted for by fellow students.

The prizes went to Karla McIntyre, Nathan Duguild, Saima Shaikh and Ashleigh Saunders, who are all 15.

The participants were also tasked with organising the contest and learning valuable marketing and promotional skills.