A former bully who now helps counsel those being picked on at school has been nominated for a London-wide award.

Sangeeta Vadgama, of The Ridgeway, Kingsbury, has been nominated for a John Lewis Young People of the Year (YOPEY) award.

The 21-year-old was nominated by Zoe Brownlie of BeatBullying.org, who said: “Sangeeta logs on to our website regularly. She mentors, supports and gives advice to young people aged 11 to 17.

“She chats in the main chat room, posts advice and support in the support forum, and privately mentors young people through instant messaging on the site.

“We always get wonderful feedback about her skills as a mentor and her commitment to helping young people who are being bullied.”

Ms Vadgama, former pupil of Kingsbury High, described how she fell into being a bully - and made the decision to stop.

She said: “My year group would pick on this one person. I felt like a monster.

“The people who surrounded me made me into that because I wanted to become like them. I wanted to be part of the crowd.

“I decided to give support to those who needed it, rather than be the cause of someone being unhappy.”

The YOPEYs aims to highlight the work of children, teenagers and young adults from the ages of ten to 25 who are role models to others their age.

Winners of the award, which will be decided this evening, will get a £1,000 prize, half of which is to be donated to a charity of their choice.