Reports of shadowy figures leaping from wall-to-wall and back-flipping down the High Street have filtered through to the office so we confronted the dark knights and asked to be taught the ways of the ninja.

Paris Ellinas of Huntingtower Road and Blaine Frankish of Princess Drive, both 16, filmed themselves 'free-running' and performing acrobatic feats throughout Grantham in their ninja get-up. They then posted the video on Youtube.

Free-running, or Parkour as it is otherwise known, is one of the fastest growing sports in the world. Participants use their skills to overcome everyday obstacles as quickly as possible.

Paris said: "You walk through Grantham, you look around and think you can jump from this or you can flip from that. It is better than just walking round town.

"I genuinely just love flipping. I'm walking round and I'll flip off something or jump off something.

"It's fun and it's all about mastering your body."

The teens regularly attend social gatherings with other enthusiasts to learn more moves and tackle greater obstacles.

Paris said: "Every Saturday there is something called Nottingham Parkour and Lincoln Parkour. People from Lincolnshire go to LPK and people from Nottinghamshire go to NPK but we change each week.

"There is about 20 people who just show up and do Parkour. We'll do flips and tricks and it's really good.

"It's really social as well because there is lots of people who you can tlk to and learn from."

Somersaulting from railings, leaping from walls and back-flipping down the street- all dressed as a ninja- does tend to attract a bit of attention, as the boys have found out.

But the pair welcome it as they are hoping their videos will one day propel them to fame and fortune.

Paris, the ninjas nominated spokesperson, said: "Everyone stares, it's great. You get some people who look at you out of the corner of their eye, some people pretend they haven't seen you and some just stare.

"We even get people taking pictures of us."

Both Paris and Blaine have suffered injuries performing their acrobatic stunts. Blaine recently wrenched his neck and required a collar while Paris has video footage of him mistiming a back-flip and landing flat on his face.

But the mishaps have never put the pair off.

Paris said: "It never made me want to give up, it just made me more determined."



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To watch Paris and Baline's original video on Youtube, click here.