A Teddington schoolgirl has come out on top of thousands of entries to win a prestigious national art competition.

Charlie Fern’s design, inspired by our preoccupation with mobile phone cameras, was picked out of more 3,500 entries nationwide in the 12 to 15 age group at this year’s Fourth Plinth School Award.

The Teddington School student said the idea for her piece, Looking at the World through a Camera, came to her while watching people take pictures at tourist hotspots.

Charlie, 13, from Teddington, said: “We are all guilty of doing it, even me.

“Everyone is completed obsessed with their mobile phone.

“You are at a historic place like Trafalgar Square or place of natural beauty and all you are worried about is what the pictures are going to look like on social media.

“I wanted to do something that was very topical and represented where we are at the moment as a society.”

Her artwork will now be displayed at an exhibition at City Hall ahead of a prize giving ceremony on April 26.

Teddington School acting Headteacher Kathy Pacey said: “I am so very proud of Charlie.

“Not only is it a great design, it is thought provoking and something we all need to reflect upon, which is why I imagine she has taken the prestigious prize.

“I look forward to celebrating with Charlie and her family at the awards ceremony.”