IRISH dancers from Kinver showed their rivals a clean pair of heels at the European and World Championships in Germany.

Pupils from the Katie Collins School pulled out all the stops to become the under-17 European Ceili champions.

The Kinver team beat considerable opposition from England, Ireland, Germany, America, Holland and Hong Kong to claim the coveted title.

They also placed third in both in the world competition and third again in the figure choreography category.

On top of that, Hollie-Mae Titley came fourth in the under-9 European Championships, having won the under-8 title last year while Molly Higgins managed to finish seventh in the European and ninth in the World Championships at under-15 level.

The younger under-12 team also placed fifth in the European and World contests.

This success adds to the Katie Collins School 's growing reputation.

Created nine years ago by Kinver based Katie Hulagu, a former dancer who was just 17 at the time, the school and has gone from strength-to-strength.

Katie, a primary school teacher by day, said: "I started the school with nine dancers, just as a bit of a hobby and it really snowballed from there. I now have a waiting list of people wanting to join.

"I have dancers coming to me from throughout Worcestershire and the Black Country. I've got that many, I could do with an extra day in the week.

"Ceili is traditional Irish dancing done with a team of eight . It really became popular as a result of 'Riverdance'."

The school meets four times a week at Foley Infant School, Kinver, and also trains in Kidderminster at the weekend as well.

However Katie is now on the lookout for her own purpose-built dance studio in the Stourbridge area.

But there will be no resting on their laurels in the meantime. They have an annual show coming up at Holy Trinity School in Kidderminster.

They are also looking for further success at the All Irelands contest in June and Scottish Opens in July.