EXAM success is sweet music for 13 year-old Ashley Gavin as she becomes one of the youngest pupils in Bolton to gain a top GCSE result.

Ashley, who attends Thornleigh Salesian College, shed tears of joy when she discovered she had achieved an A in music.

No mean feat for a girl who began playing her chosen instrument, the clarinet, only four years ago to help beat childhood asthma. Proud mum Susan Gavin, of Ainsworth Lane, said: "We thought playing an instrument would help Ashley with her breathing and her asthma but she has just taken off.

"She plays the piano and saxophone as well and we decided she should take her GCSE early because she is so far advanced."

Ashley took her exam outside Thornleigh under the guidance of her music teacher Fiona Berry.

And it is the latest in a list of achievements for the young maestro who has already become the only pupil in Bolton to appear with the junior section of the National Youth Orchestra.

"We're really proud of her," Mrs Gavin said. "Particularly because I don't have a musical bone in my body. Ashley eventually hopes to make a career from music and she would like to become a teacher."