An Ilford teenager has been congratulated by the Environment Secretary after reaching the finals of a national poetry competition.

Irum Hasan, 13, got to the final four in the ‘The Future We Want’ competition with her poem listing hopes for a world without war, poverty and pollution.

Irum Hasan, 13, got to the final four in the ‘The Future We Want’ competition with her poem listing hopes for a world without war, poverty and pollution.

The competition is being run by charity the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) ahead of the United Nations Earth Summit - Rio +20 - which opens on Tuesday.

The Woodford County High School student was given a certificate by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Caroline Spelman MP, at the House of Commons yesterday.

Mrs Spelman said: “I have been extremely impressed by the quality of writing and the ideas expressed.

“I hope other world leaders at Rio+20 have as much vision and passion as these young people.”

The winner was Charlie Harrison from Worthing.