A WEST End dancer from Cwmbran has become the youngest dance examiner in the country.

Charlotte May Davies, 27, is the principal of Charlotte May Academy on St James' Field in Pontypool, and is now the youngest examiner with the Associated Board of Dance. The dancer has previously performed with Pixie Lott on her UK tour and with Gareth Gates and Lee Mead in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in the West End for two and a half years.

Ms Davies returned to Pontypool in 2012 to take over as principle of the Suzanne Sims School of Dance where she learnt to dance as a child.

She said: "It is a real privilege to become an examiner. You are asked whether you want to become an examiner and then it's taken to the board who decide on the appointment of examiners.

"It then involves a lot of training and exams to get through the process. It's quite an achievement and an amazing opportunity for me."

Ms Davies will be marking dancers from all around the UK and Northern Ireland in a variety of dance including ballet, jazz, hip-hop and musical.

The academy currently has 90 dancers from two and a half-year-olds to 19-year-olds who will be performing their second show Smile at the Congress Theatre in Cwmbran on October 28 to November 1.