SIX young musicians have been awarded four-year music scholarships as part of a Mayor of London fund.

Worth a total of £420,000, the Mayor's Music Scholarships sees 70 youngsters from disadvantaged families given an extensive programme of music tuition and support that they might not otherwise be able to afford.

This year's Lewisham winners were nine-year-old flautist Jenade Martin from Stillness Junior School, Holbeach violinist Emmanuel Robe, aged 10, and drummer Kieran White, aged eight, from Kilmorie.

And in Greenwich the winners were trumpeter Paris Samuels, aged eight, from Plumcroft, along with clarinet player Jameel Baksh-Weston and flautist Mary Simwaya, both 10-year-old Notre Dame Catholic Primary School pupils.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: "Not every child can afford an instrument or the lessons they need to make real progress as musicians and the fund is doing vital work to help hundreds of gifted youngsters towards realising their ambitions and achieve their full potential.

"In addition, as they develop as musicians these scholars are also gaining additional skills and experience that will be invaluable in all areas of their lives."