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A national short story competition for young writers attracted more than 1,000 entries from Shropshire, organisers said today and offered a fascinating glimpse into the way children use language.

BBC Radio 2s 500 Words competition, launched by Breakfast show host Chris Evans, drew 90,000 entries from all over the country.

Youngsters had to tell a story in just 500 words, and the winners will be announced live on air on Friday.

In the meantime lexicographers at the Oxford University Press have been studying the entries all 40 million words to produce an insight into the way children use English.

And they found that mom was the word most used in the stories written by 698 Shropshire girls and 374 boys.

They also showed their rural roots by featuring sheep 64 times more in their tales than children in other areas.

Meanwhile, the icy weather that swept the region at the start of the year could have been influenced the popularity of the words snow and ski, which both feature in the top 10.

Other well-used words included Jade, nan, kitten, and concert.

But there was bad news for teachers, with the word dont appearing without its apostrophe 49 times more in the Shropshire entries than in those from other regions.

And where mom was the most written word overall, with regional variations including mum and mam, dad only just scraped into the top 15.

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Mom’s the word for young Shropshire storytellers