AN ANDOVER resident has brought the Mr British Isles crown to the town after winning this year’s national competition.

Mike Lavery, who is an IT technician, took part in the ‘elegant’ age range of the competition on May 28 and was ‘surprised’ when he was announced as the winner.

He competed against other entrants on the catwalk to win prizes such as a £1,500 professional modelling portfolio, a modelling and promotional contract and of course the Mr British Isles crown to keep.

The 49-year-old said: “It was really nerve wracking, I was really amazed that I won.

“There were a couple of guys I thought might have beaten me.

“The other guys were somewhat younger than me. I was the oldest guy there, there’s hope for us yet.”

Being a catwalk novice, Mike used YouTube videos to practise.

After the competition, he met previous winner and judge Conrad William who appeared on Take Me Out.

Mr Andover said: “I saw him in the bar afterwards. He said congratulations and said you offered a different look, maybe something a bit different to the norm.

People like you I don’t come across that often. Maybe because I’m older and greyer than others.”

The aspiring model is not planning on quitting his day job, he said: “I’m not at that level yet. At the moment I will still be doing IT work and online fitness coaching, but we’ll see what this title might spring out of it.”

His biggest highlight of the night was the winning moment, where he heard his family and friends jumping and screaming.

“I was proud to be representing Andover, a lot of people don’t actually know where Andover is so it is quite cool to be able to bring that title and get Andover on the map.”