HEREFORDSHIRE mountain-boarder Jack Herriot has landed his first British title - just five years after taking up the adrenaline sport, writes Ian Morgan.

The 14-year-old schoolboy has made excellent progress since he was given his first mountain-board as a birthday present at the age of nine.

Now, the Cradley teenager has just clinched the ATBA Under-14 British crown for downhill racing and finished second overall in his age-group in the four-race National series.

It was a significant improvement for Jack because the previous year he finished fourth in the downhill racing and was placed fifth overall.

"I simply try to do my best and, because the sport is still relatively young, we all seem to be making progress at the same rate," he said. "I don't really have a role model in the sport but there are lots of people who I would like to be as good as."

Jack first competed in the British Championships at Eastnor Castle where he was the youngest in his age section and finished eighth out of eight.

He became a regular at Cradley's Out to Grass Mountain-board Centre when it opened three years ago and he now spends five days a week at his local haven.

This weekend Jack and his 15-year-old brother Will, another keen mountain-boarder, will be racing at a big international event in France, their first overseas tournament.

A keen snowboarder, Jack says that he has never been interested in skateboarding, but particularly enjoys the excitement which mountain-board racing offers.

Jack is competing in his last season at under-14 level and will be making the big step up to the under-18 class in the ATBA-UK championships next year.