A Harrow girl who pushes the boundaries of stereotypes in her storytelling is a finalist in a BBC competition.

Siya, nine, has reached the top 50 of the BBC Radio 2 500-word competition for her story The Knight Who Loved to Knit.

She was told about the competition during an assembly at school and was excited to enter due to her passion for reading and writing.

Siya said: “I’ve always been into reading, which sparks my imagination which I want to share with others through my writing.

“My story is about breaking stereotypes, with a knight who can knit, two things we wouldn’t normally associate, a dragon who isn’t scary.

“It also mixes up olden day concepts like knights with modern language.”

Siya wrote her story during the Easter holiday inspired by a variety of stories including Gangster Granny by David Walliams.

“Although not revealed in the story my knight is actually a girl.

“This idea came from a Gene Kemp book, The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tyler, which I read last year where all the way through the book you assume Tyke is a boy.

“Only at the end do you find out, she is a girl.

“I found it difficult to make it 500 words, to keep it simple and not include too many events and dramas as I had so many ideas.”

Her mother, Rupal Kantaria, said: “She’s always been into books. She’s a voracious reader, she just eats up books but not traditional girl things. She prefers to read male books.

“She really wanted to enter and she sat at her laptop for literally hours as she wanted to write a moral story and challenge stereotypes and bias.”

Siya added: “I’m really happy I made it this far.

“I feel like if you can dream it you can do it, anything is possible, and I shouldn’t underestimate myself.”

The 500 words final will be broadcasted live on BBC Radio 2 on June 14.