Oxfordshire have won a major cash boost to help more loal children develop in sport.

Its 'Active Sports Partnership' is the first in the south east to be awarded lottery funding from Sport England.

The partnership, between six local authorities and nine sports, will receive more than £817,000 for the first phase of the initiative, to improve coaching, training, education and sporting opportunities in girls' football, tennis, rugby and hockey.

The Partnership will get a further £221,000 from local partners, including all the local authorities across the county, which means that more than £1m will be used to improve sporting opportunities for young people in Oxfordshire over the next five years.

The scheme was being launched today at Stratfield Brake Sports Ground, Kidlington.

*Nine talented sports people in south Oxfordshire have been given bursaries by the district council. To qualify, they had to have gained county or national recognition.

Swimmer Simon Burnett, 17, from Tetsworth was awarded £200, gymnast and rugby player Jaike Carter, 14, from Didcot £150, kayak racer Tom Daniels, 14, from Henley £200, hockey player Francesca Evans, 13, from Pishill £150 and rower Dominic Gill, 20, from Wallingford, £150.

Golfer Sarah Owen-Parson, 15, from Maidensgrove, gets £150, badminton and cricketer Jonathan Ponsford, 16, from Littleworth £150, athlete Seymour Scott, 16, from Wallingford £150 and target rifle marksman Philip Wakefield, 16, from Great Milton £200.