A CHEERLEADING squad from Rossendale will battle it out against some of the best troupes in Europe after being chosen to represent the UK.

Twenty members of the Pioneer Cheerleading team, based in Bacup, will jet out to Slovenia on the weekend of July 2 to compete in the European Championships.

It is the latest success for the team who have only been competing for two years but have already reached national standard in the UK.

Fayhe-Louise Mitchell, head coach and project owner, said: “I am really proud of the girls, they have worked really hard to achieve this.

“They are all looking forward to it now and are going through very intense training. Some stunts are a little bit harder and the difficulty level is moving up, but there getting there bit by bit.”

Pioneer’s seniors team will be competing in the European Championships, who are aged between 15 and 30.

They were chosen to represent the UK after winning a Club Nationals event in March.

Fayhe-Louise said: “The girls scored so highly that the judges decided to pick us to represent the UK.

“The Club Nationals are a really big competition, most teams have been doing it for years and years. With us only competing for two years for them to pick us is a really great honour.”

The rest of the squad enjoyed success last week at the UK Cheerleading Association's National Community Championships in Manchester.

“We have 14 teams all together and the rest competed last week and every one of them finished 1st or 2nd.

“It is a great achievement for us,” she added.