A Southwick karate club is celebrating after producing a trio of junior grand champions.

Zen Ch'uan struck gold in the final Southern Open Series event at Copthorne.

Matt Pitts, 13, a pupil at King's Manor, Shoreham, won the over 5ft.4in boys' points title just 11 months after taking up karate.

He said: "I was very surprised and chuffed. It is down to the training I have received and the fact that I seem to be quite natural at it. I just felt like giving karate a go after getting a bad knee playing football."

Mini marvel Jay Rolf, who is 4ft.1in, won the grand title in the over 4ft boys' points class.

The nine-year-old Buckingham pupil said: "I was up against taller boys but that just made me try harder."

Adam Davidson, 13, another King's Manor pupil, completed the hat-trick when he took the under 5ft boys' continuous fighting crown.

Their trainer Graham Hosken, who claimed the executive men's class grand crown, said: "All three did extremely well. Matt has made very quick progress and Jay is a very determined character. Adam is now aiming for the British Championships next month."

Eighteen-year-old clubmate Richard Corrigan was pipped 2-0 by world champion Chris Taylor in a match-up at Copthorne.

Lenka Mercer, who trains with the boys at Southwick, was overall runner-up in the women's continuous fighting in the series.

Zen Ch'uan have had to close down their Mile Oak headquarters.

Hosken said: "Numbers went down but the three boys who won grand titles show the Southwick base is doing okay."