YOUNGSTERS learning police skills put them to the test with success when a woman lost her car key on Torquay's vast Torre Abbey Meadows on Thursday.

The teenage 999 cadets, who have just completed their first year of training under the guidance of the emergency services, came top of the class when they found the 'needle in a haystack' on the resort's spacious seafront play area.

Their police and fire service tutors immediately instigated a line search along the expanse of parched grass — and within minutes they had found what they were looking for.

Bay police spokesman Insp Mel Broad explained: "The group was approached by a lady who had lost her single car key. She didn't have a clue where it was, but the cadets were happy to look for it."

He added: "She was so thrilled at their discovery that she rushed off and returned with a box of chocolates which she bought for them all."