A Biggleswade schoolgirl has been named as one of the 24 finalists in Royal Mail’s national Christmas stamp design competition.

Grace Rowe, of St Andrew’s C of E VC Lower School, won the East of England age eight to 11 category – and her design will now go up against 23 others for consideration by Prince Charles to be a first or second-class Christmas stamp this year.

By reaching the final, she has won £500 in vouchers and £500 for her school – which will be doubled if her design is picked as one of the two winners.

This year marks the fourth time that the official Christmas stamps have been designed by children, after 1966, 1981 and 2013, with children aged four to 11 asked to draw inspiration from the question ‘What does the Christmas season mean to you?’

Grace’s design shows Father Christmas posting her a letter in a red pillar postbox, atop which a red-breasted robin holds a letter to Santa.

And it was chosen as one of the top 24 from more than 200,000 entries nationwide, and 24,462 in the East of England.

The announcement of the finalists is being marked this week with a special postmark featuring on mail nationwide, reading ‘Congratulations to the 24 finalists of Royal Mail’s 2017 Christmas Stamp Design Competition’.

As with all special stamps issued by Royal Mail, both winning designs will be submitted for final approval from the Queen. The winners will be announced this summer.

To find out more see royalmail.com/stampcompetition.