IT takes years of practice to reach the top but these young brothers are already some of the finest young dancers in the region.

Inspired by the showbiz glamour of BBC1’s hit Saturday night show Strictly Come Dancing, little Fred and Stan Allsop have been waltzing their way through weekly after school classes for years.

After doing exceptionally well at their first big contest in London recently, the brothers have their sights set firmly on adding more trophies to their collection.

At seven-years-old, Fred is the older brother to six-year-old Stan and said he was teased at first by his pals when he took up ballet and tap dancing, but since they had seen some of his ballroom skills they thought he was “awesome”.

He said: “We practice every Friday and we do a class on Sundays too. When I first got into (ballet and tap) at primary school I got teased but most of them are quite jealous now.”

Stan said he liked dancing the jive and the waltz while Fred prefers freestyle ballroom dancing.

The brothers’ first big competition was on May 8 at the National Association of Teachers of Dancing (NATD) London Ballroom Area Junior and Juvenile Spring Medallist Day at the K2 Leisure Centre in Crawley.

Fred came first and Stan was runner-up in their age groups of the ballroom category while they came first and fourth respectively in the doubles contests.

Fred danced with his partner Angel Grey, seven, while Stan danced with Lily Holland, five, as his regular partner Jolanta Cieslak, four, could not make the event.

The boys, both Freeman Community Primary School pupils, are big fans of Strictly star Robin Windsor, who was born in Ipswich and, like them, learned to dance from the age of three at the Ipswich School of Dancing in Bond Street.

They live in Stowupland with their parents Judith, 46, and Larry, 47, who were both in the army.

Mrs Allsop said that the dancing had helped the boys with their confidence and the idea to take it up had been entirely their own.

Mrs Allsop said: “We’re not ‘dancing people’ but at the age of three Fred wanted to do ballet and we let him. He carried on and he’s been doing ballet and tap for the last few years.

“Then a year ago he decided he wanted to do ballroom and then he dropped the rest and now only does ballroom. Stan, after a year of fred doing tap, wanted to do it as well and did modern too, but not ballet.

“It’s wonderful. Fred had to overcome a bit of teasing. For certain it has brought him out - he was a shy little boy but now he’s more confident.”