THREE talented young people from Worcester have reached the semi-final of a national talent competition.

Claire Lauren Cooper, 24 has impressed the judges with her voice and will compete in the semi final of ‘The Austin Search For A Star’ - with the chance to win £2000.

Miss Cooper, who works at Npower in Worcester as a senior advisor, said: “I already do quite a lot of charity gigs and sing at care homes too but I actually work full time and have a one year old so don’t have a lot of free time, so at the moment I do it just for fun as singing is something I’ve always done.

“I like to get involved with things to keep it going.

“I’m very excited as I was just getting over tonsillitis in the heat and they brought me back as a wild card so feel very fortunate!”

She added: “I tend to do slower songs as I always feel they show off my voice more and normally do songs ranging from Adele to Luther Vandross.”

Miss Cooper will compete against Annie Williams and Jack Giblen, who are also from Worcester, and three other contestants, in the semi-final, at 8pm tonight.

The show is being held at The Austin Sports and Social Club, in Longbridge.

One contestant will go through to the grand final, which will be held Saturday, April 7.

The winner will receive £2,000 with the runner up winning £1,000, the contestant in third place will win £500 and fourth place will win £250. All other finalists will win £100. The national competition has been running since January. Organiser Tony Maslen said: “The competition has been running for 30 years and holds a lot of weight in the industry. It’s for semi-professionals and professionals, so the standard is very high.

“It can really enhance the winner’s career, they always see a real rise in bookings. Last year a lad won who played the banjo, and he is doing really well.”

He said: “A lot of them go on to perform on TV and have been on the X-Factor. It’s a good stepping stone.” The show includes musicians, comics, magicians and jugglers.