Adult photography students have swept the board in a national competition.

Aspiring photographers from the Croydon Adult Learning and Training (CALAT) centre took top honours in the City & Guilds fourth annual student National Photography Competition, taking a quarter of all the winner and runners up positions.

Croydon learners won two first and two second-place prizes as well as filling six runner up places, out of 400 entries from across Britain.

Retired biologist David Thomas from Croydon took a top prize for his photograph Street Life alongside Andy Forey for his picture, taken while in India of a barber shop as part of a collection for his book One Billion Faces.

Second prizes were received by commercial property manager Ros Conti for her shot ‘Croydon Rooftop’ and Jackie Morrison’s photo of her grandniece’s water birth named ‘Nubia’s Birth’.

The result is the best that has ever been achieved by an individual college in the history of the UK-wide competition.

Councillor Tim Pollard, cabinet member for children, families and learning said: “It’s a massive achievement for Croydon to have featured so strongly in the results of this competition – and it’s a real testament to the quality of the teaching that our CALAT centres are able to deliver.”

The pictures by the 40 winners and runners up will be shown at the Morley Gallery in Kennington, South London September 7 to 13.

For further information about CALAT photography courses visit www.calat.ac.uk or call 0870 556 1630