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A cheerleading coach has said "it doesn't get any better than this" after her Essex troupe went to an American competition and won.

Loughton-based Cassablanca Cheer sent its Gravity group - made up of nine to 14-year-olds - to the US Finals contest in Florida.

They won the small junior level two cheerleading division.

Coach Carli Bacon said: "We've come to the home of cheerleading not expecting to win and we've gone and done it."

She said competition faced by the nine-strong troupe was "very fierce".

"For us, this is the biggest thing by far. It doesn't get any better than this."

The group returns to the UK on Wednesday.