An Irvine schoolgirl has turned into a Disney heroine to star in a national campaign.

Chloe Lennon has a leading role in a national Downs syndrome awareness campaign featuring children with Downs syndrome as some of Disney’s most popular characters.

Six-year-old Chloe, from Castlepark, stars as Scottish Princess Merida from the 2012 Disney movie, Brave.

Down with Disney is the brainchild of Birmingham photographer Nicole Perkins.

So far the campaign has touched the hearts of more than eight million people and Nicole, who works in a school for additional needs, said as soon as she came up with the idea she knew Chloe had to have a starring role.

She said: “I am around people who have Down syndrome a lot of the time and I absolutely love it. I taught myself photography and I decided I wanted to start some awareness photography campaigns. Last year I created my first campaign called Down Right Beautiful that consisted of 32 babies, children, teenagers and adults who have Down Syndrome they all have their own page on my Down Right Beautiful website along with their photoshoot images and story written by parents.

“Chloe’s mum Jade had gotin touch with me when I was looking for models to take part in this campaign but unfortunately she found out about it too late and all of the spaces were full. Because of this I was sure to give her a place in this years campaign, Down With Disney.”

Nicole says she has been ‘overwhelmed’ by the reaction.

She said: “It’s been overwhelming. It’s reached over 14million people on Facebook alone and the comments and messages have have been lovely. I can’t believe how far the campaign has gone but I am so proud of it. We have gone world wide which has been amazing. It’s been difficult to keep up with everything but it’s definitely worth it as we have raised so much awareness already.”