A Harrow youngster has been crowned one of UK’s Best Young Drivers - before he can legally drive.

Adam Kingsley, 12, from Harrow was celebrating this week after beating hundreds of others from across the country to be crowned one of the UK's best young drivers - years before he is even old enough to officially drive.

He finished second place in the 11 to 13 age category at the national finals of the 2014 Young Driver Challenge, held at the Birmingham NEC on Saturday, September 13.

Adam, who attends Salvatorian College in Harrow Weald, said: "It was an amazing feeling when they announced I had finished second place in the 11 to 13 age category. There were a lot of challenging tests and we knew the judges were marking us based on many different driving skills and manoeuvres. "We had to show how well we could do things like parallel parking, reversing, tight steering, emergency stops and turns in the road, as well as undertake independent driving. It was nerve-wracking, but it was an amazing experience."

More than 350 young people entered the competition, organised by Young Driver, a provider of driving tuition for under-17s, and Adam was among the 40 who made it to the final of the contest - which was open to those aged between 11 and 16.

As well as being marked on their practical driving skills behind the wheel of a dual-control SKODA Citigo at one of Young Driver’s 33 venues, the entrants were also judged on their performance in the Goodyear Driving Academy, an online driving simulator which tests a youngsters’ knowledge of the Highway Code.

Kim Stanton from Young Driver said this first year's competition had been a huge success, she said: “We’d like to say a massive congratulations to Adam and all of our finalists and winners. The standard of entries was extremely high, so they should all feel hugely proud of their achievements."

Mark Lewis, Director of Standards for IAM, said: “They were all very responsible and considered drivers and hopefully it should help them be much safer drivers when they do take to the road for real in a few years. Adam showed so much skill behind the wheel, we were delighted to award him second place."

For placing second in his age category, Adam won a place on Young Driver’s Prodrive Skills Day, five Young Driver lessons and a half day Young Driver at school session for his class.