A YOUNG girl from York was "really excited" to visit a brand new treehouse - which was built based on her design.

Lottie Brown, 8, designed her dream treehouse as part of a competition to celebrate the release of the new adventure film, The Croods 2: A New Age, in association with Co-op Insurance and Neighbourhood Watch.

Now, young people in Retford, Nottinghamshire, have a brand-new community treehouse, situated in Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust’s Idle Valley Nature Reserve – all thanks to the York schoolgirl's dream design.

This month, Lottie saw her design come to life at the nature reserve, when she was invited to cut the ribbon and be the first person to play on the treehouse with her best friend, Millie.

Lottie said: “I loved the first Croods movie, so I was really excited to get to draw my own treehouse. I’m even more excited now as my treehouse is actually real for other children to play on.

"It’s amazing. I’ve asked my teachers if we can go on a school trip to Idle Valley so that all my friends can play on it.”

Judges crowned Lottie as the overall winner because of her imaginative and inclusive design, which features a hotel for bugs, ‘kindness rocks,’ and interactive games for children to enjoy.

John Hayward-Cripps, CEO of Neighbourhood Watch said: “We are so impressed with Lottie’s well thought out treehouse, and we look forward to seeing it bring people together and strengthen community spirit."

Meanwhile, Charles Offord, managing director of Co-op Insurance said: “The quality of the designs submitted were simply incredible. Young people across the nation really got creative, and we’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who entered the competition."

DreamWorks Animation’s The Croods 2: A New Age was released in UK cinemas last week.