The Reading Evening Post has appointed a 14-year-old youth writer - who has scored a major victory for the town's young people with her very first column.

The paper has recruited Eshe Nelson, a member of Reading's youth forum committee, with the aim of giving young people a platform to voice their opinions and in turn attract more young readers.

In her first article Eshe (pictured) decided to protest about a move by Reading Buses to introduce ID cards for children aged between 11 and 18 and students aged up to 19, which cost £5 plus the price of a passport photograph.

The ID card idea – to prove the youngsters were entitled to half-price fares - had become increasingly unpopular with the town's youth and their parents because of the cost involved.

And within days of Eshe's column being published the company performed a u-turn and said it was going back to the drawing board.

Evening Post editor Andy Murrill said: "The media is often accused of demonising young people so we decided we wanted to give someone a voice who would champion their causes – and Eshe's done just that."

Eshe will now write a monthly column on topics chosen by herself and other members of the youth forum committee.

The paper also has a senior columnist, the Silver Surfer, who writes regularly about pensioners' issues, taking up causes close to their hearts as well as encouraging them to get into the computer age and keep up with new technology.

Andy said: "With our range of columnists in between Eshe and Silver we're providing a platform for - and appealing to - all ages in the Post."