A Newbury schoolboy has been selected as the Lord-Lieutenant's top cadet.

Alisdair Shankland, an able cadet from Downe School, was picked from 2,800 sea cadets for this honour.

Discussing the selection process, he said: "I’m so honoured to have been chosen as the Lord Lieutenants cadet. Our COs write a citation that gets sent off and each unit selects two or three cadets.

"That goes to our district officer who then picks the top two candidates and then sends them to the Lord-Lieutenant's office."

He said his school has a "healthy cadet community" and he plans to go to Britannia Royal Naval College to become a warfare officer after school.

He said: "We've got cadets at my unit and other units from all sorts of backgrounds including ethnic backgrounds.

"On the weekend I go down to the forces and do first aid, navigation, engineering."

The Lord-Lieutenant of the Royal County of Berkshire, Andrew Try, said: "It’s a real accolade and reflection of the cadet and their potential.

"This is to get kids off the screens and off the gaming to do something that will be valuable to them for their entire life."

The cadet programme dates back to pre-war and the top cadets get to apply for this honour.

The Lord Lieutenants’ Cadets are typically amongst the best Cadets in their respective organisations – having completed the majority of their Cadet training – and tend to carry the rank of Cadet Sergeant or above.

The Cadets are examples of all that young people can achieve through the Cadet experience.