MAYBE it isn't the easiest mode of transport to master, but for one rather well-balanced schoolgirl it will always be her favourite way to travel.

Plucky 13-year-old Katia McCrudden decided to unicycle all the way to school in Upton from her Bournemouth home - around seven miles away.

She opted to tackle the hour-long ride to mark her last day at Yarrell's Prep School, where she's been a student for 11 years.

The Daily Echo caught up with Katia as she made her way across Poole Park with proud mum Ute.

"I'm riding my unicycle all the way up to Upton from Bournemouth," said the Yarell's Prep School head girl, who was barely out of breath.

"I've been riding unicycles since I was six years old and I love riding along the paths with everyone watching me."

Katia's latest machine, a special mountain unicycle, was given to her as a birthday present.

"It is a mountain unicycle," she explained.

"So it can go up and down hills. This morning we're going across the park, roads, on grass, it should take us just over an hour to get to school today."

Katia, from Branksome Dene Road, said her unicycle was definitely the best way to travel to school on her last day.

Meanwhile, mum Ute McCrudden - a GP who opted to cycle with her daughter on a more traditional two-wheeled machine - said: "When she arrived the whole school was standing there lining Blandford Road to cheer her in along. It was a really, really special day for her.

"She just said to me six months ago that she'd like to ride her unicycle in to school. To start with I thought she was crazy, then I said she could only do it if I escorted her.

"She's now moving onto boarding school, it has been quite an emotional day.

"I'm from Germany and unicycling there is a little more popular than in this country. We picked one up when she was six or seven-years-old and now she can do all kinds of tricks. She's amazing."