A NORTH Tawton youngster is 'storming' her way up in the world of Thai boxing after recently being crowned British champion — at only ten years old.

Marie Day, who only took up the sport six months ago, already held the English champion title for her weight category and now also holds the British title.

Her father Adam Day said: 'She just seems to be a bit of a natural — it just clicked with her.

'In her first proper fight she won the South West title and since then she has done a few other competitions.

'A month ago in Blackpool she fought the English Champion and won the title, and then she fought the British champion and won that too.

'She's just storming her way up.'

Adam said he was an 'amazingly proud' father: 'To see her do so well in something she loves so much is brilliant.

'She's quite a shy girl — she didn't really tell anyone when she won her titles. She goes to training and gets in the ring and turns into a completely different person.'

Marie trains at Chaos Muay Thai Fitness Centre in Okehampton with instructors Steve Pender and Christi Brereton.

Marie said: 'I love it at the gym because not only do I think of them as my instructors I think of them as my friends.

'It's given me an amazing amount of confidence, my fitness has improved so much since I started.

'The feeling of stepping in the ring makes me so excited. Good thoughts go through my head like I want to be as good as Christi, so I am going to try my best and hardest to win!

'No matter how big, small or experienced the other fighter is I'll always try my hardest and I'm never scared.

'I would like to make this into a career and when I grow up I would like to be a fitness instructor and Thai Boxing champion. After every training lesson I look forward to the next.'

Marie's next big fight will be in February where she will be defending her British title, although she will be doing some smaller fights between now and then.

The passion for Thai boxing seems to run in the family with Marie's younger sister Kacey-Leigh, 8, also taking part in the sport, and her young brother Tyler, 3, has just started taking a class once a week.