Four cadets from Havering achieved a "monumental result" by achieving bronze in a national rowing regatta.

The Royal Marine's Hornchurch and Upminster Sea Cadet unit represented London in their age category of the national rowing regatta at the Royal Victoria Dock on August 20.

Having rowed together for about three years, the team of five young people - Josh, Connor, Ben, Nicky and coxswain Abbie - raced 500m against five other teams three times throughout the day.

They came first once and second twice, placing them third out of 14 teams based on points.

Sean Sarfas, training officer at the unit, said he is “extremely proud of their achievements as it as a monumental result”.

"The sea cadets competitions are for fun, for meeting other cadets, the internal competition, the skills and practice, for the spirit of it," he said.

Sean - who joined the cadets at 10 years old in 2010 and became a staff member in 2018 - told this newspaper it is a signficant achievement for the sea cadets as they had limited training in comparison to other teams.

To reach the national competition, the group had to compete against 400 other units across the UK in district and area competitions, and the bronze medal is the Hornchurch and Upminster unit's highest placed team since a silver-placed group in 2016.

Sea cadets get the opporunity to compete in a variety of competitions throughout the year, including sailing, powerboat and kayaking, Sean said.

The Hornchurch and Upminster unit is named Training Ship (TS) Hurricane after HMS Hurricane, which sunk in the early 1940s soon after the cadets unit was established.