SHE may have just missed out on an equestrian award, but winning the raffle prize of a brand new Mini Cooper soon put the smile back on Lorna Edmonds? face.
The talented young horserider from Jacobstowe has been waiting for seven months to receive her car because she was only 16 at the time.
Last week as she celebrated her 17th birthday, Lorna was handed the keys of her Mini and went out for a test drive with her mother at the wheel!
It was at the Animal Health Trust UK Equestrian Awards in London last October that Lorna narrowly missed out on the dressage award so her mother, Helen, bought her some raffle tickets as a consolation prize.
The daughter of businessman and celebrity Noel Edmonds, Lorna was stunned when she won. Helen said: ?It is a really lovely prize and like most young people who are brought up in the countryside they cannot wait to learn to drive and get some independence.
?Lorna is having some lessons to start with in a dual-control car before she goes out in the Mini ? it?s a bit too precious to run the risk of a mishap.?
The £11,000 prize is not only impressive but also ?very sensible? according to Helen, a mother to four daughters, who said it was a great vehicle.
?I have never driven a Mini Cooper before but it has an easy gearbox and everything in the right place with no unnecessary extra gadgets.
?As soon as she passes her normal driving test I will get Lorna to take the Pass Plus which involves motorway and night driving because the roads are such dangerous places these days.?