A BOLTON dance troupe have returned from a national competition covered in glory once more.

The Bolton Mandhata Youth group runs weekly dance classes and each year a group competes in Leicester at the annual Raas Garba folk dance competition.

For the third time the group from Bolton brought silverware home. They came first in the Raas style and third in Garba.

Meena Patel, dance co-ordinator at the Krishna Temple Bolton in Beverley Road, said: "For some of the girls it was their very first time and it was quite nerve-wracking but they were so enthusiastic.

"It was remarkable to see energy on the stage and they outshone everybody."

The dancers are aged 12 and up and many gave up large chunks of their summer holidays to practice, with the help of choreographer Manisha Solanki.

The girls were so dedicated their rehearsals often over ran with some lasting from 10am to 6pm.

The Raas dance is a performed using colourfully-decorated sticks or dandiya and is a associated with the god Krishna, for who it is a favourite pastime.

The Garba dance is associated with the goddess Amba and is usually performed with clapping hands.

The group is looking forward already to competing in Leicester again next year.

Bolton Mandhata Youth is currently waiting to find out whether it has been successful in applying for up to £5,000 of funding from the Aviva Community Fund to help with running costs.