THE COMET S short story competition is up and running. Aspiring writers young and old have already begun sending in their stories in the hope of getting their work published in The Comet and winning a collection of books supplied by Bloomsbury Press and b

THE COMET'S short story competition is up and running.

Aspiring writers young and old have already begun sending in their stories in the hope of getting their work published in The Comet and winning a collection of books supplied by Bloomsbury Press and book tokens courtesy of Ottakar's.

Ghosts, chases and Second World War bombs are just a few of the topics tackled by entrants.

There are two age groups, under 16s and 16 and over, and to be in with a chance of winning all you need to do is write a 400-word thriller set in Stevenage and send it to us.

The Comet is working in association with 1book4stevenage for the competition and stories will be judged by our panel of judges which includes international best-selling author Ken Follett.

For last week's paper Ken sent in a short story of his own but this week we are publishing one of the entries we have received for the competition.

The closing date for the competition is July 11 and The Comet will publish the names of the winners, and their stories, on July 20.

Email your story, and contact details, to editorial@thecomet.net or post it to The Comet, Bank House, Primett Road, Stevenage, SG1 3EE.