One of Kent’s biggest shopping areas came under the leadership of a primary school pupil from Maidstone for a day after she came top in a creative writing competition.

Elizabeth Cooper, six, from attends St Francis Catholic Primary School, Maidstone, was one of hundreds of students taking part in the I Spy competition to write about the sights, sounds and experiences of the walk to school.

The prize – and challenge – for little Elizabeth, was to take over the Whitefriars shopping area in Canterbury from outgoing centre manager Peter Scutt. Fortunately the experience, however enjoyable for Elizabeth, was just for one day.

The tough tasks on her agenda for the day included taking a board meeting and signing off letters of thanks to both Father Christmas and the Easter Bunny, selecting a new hat for security staff, checking on the operation of the CCTV room and conducting a tour of the entire complex to ensure retailers were happy.

During her tour Elizabeth was accompanied by security officers Adam Webster and Dave Hay to ensure her wishes were enforced. Included in her sweep of the shopping area were visits to Build-a-Bear Workshop and both the restaurant and toy department at Fenwick’s department store.

Simon Dolby, from the KM Charity Team, said: “Elizabeth was a worthy winner of the writing competition, and a worthy replacement as Centre Manager of Whitefriars. Our charity is extremely grateful to Whitefriars for staging such a fantastic experience for Elizabeth.”

Peter Scutt, now reinstated as Centre Manager, said: “Elizabeth handled the board meeting very competently and was firm but fair in her letter to the Easter Bunny explaining that his services were no longer required. She was diplomatic and charming and took the day and all its challenges in her stride.”

The KM Charity Team delivers walk to school schemes to encourage green travel and teach road safety skills to 40,000 pupils at 200 primary schools in Kent. Writing competitions are a regular feature of the charity’s work. The current competition is the Perfect Packed Lunch Awards which is a creative writing and artwork competition where children create a real or imaginary lunch for a pirate captain, princess or famous artist.

The winners’ work will go on display at the Turner Contemporary gallery, Margate. To find out more click here or visit www.perfectpackedlunch.org.uk

The KM Charity Team’s walk to school work is supported by Mini Babybel, Specsavers, Golding Vision, Westwood Cross, Southern Water, Countrystyle Recycling, Eurostar, Specsavers, Ashford Borough Council, Canterbury City Council, Maidstone Borough Council, Thanet District Council, Orbit South, Whitefriars shopping area, Leeds Castle and Three R’s Teacher Recruitment.