IT'S NOT exactly a well-trodden path, but one Russian teenager is glad to have made the move from Moscow to a Gwent village.

Irina Evstafieva, 16, swapped her hectic life in the Russian capital for the rural pleasures of Varteg 18 months ago when she joined her mother and British stepfather.

Despite speaking very little English when she arrived, Irina worked hard at Abersychan Comprehensive, staying on at school for extra English lessons for an hour every day.

The Year 11 pupil, who plans to become a lawyer, has now virtually mastered the language and is on course to do well in eight GCSEs.

She says life in Varteg Road is "nice and peaceful" and the only things she misses about Moscow are her family and friends.

"I actually prefer it here because it's friendlier," said Irina.

"Because it's a small area everyone knows each other and looks after each other - our neighbours have been very friendly."

Her mother Elena Evstafieva, 36, and stepfather, Brian Brettell , 65, met while working together at a school for disadvantaged children in Moscow in the early 1990s.

When the project's funding expired in 1999 they moved to the UK, choosing Monmouth first, where Mr Brettell owned a house. They married in 2000, but it wasn't until 2004 that Irina, who stayed behind in Moscow with her grandmother, would be able to join them.

The family were devastated when their application for Irina's visa was refused in April 2004.

They lobbied Huw Edwards, the MP for Monmouth at the time, and the visa was finally granted in October 2004.

Mrs Evstafieva, now a support worker for a social care agency, said she and her daughter are enjoying their new lives in Gwent, having been welcomed into the community.

Mr Brettell, who is retired, said: "We chose Gwent because I got to know the area while visiting friends and after eight years in Moscow, I decided I wanted some peace and quiet!

"The school and local authority had been extremely supportive in helping us, and they're both making lots of friends."