A TALENTED barber from Basingstoke beat tough competition to scoop an award at a national contest.

James Bradbury came out on top after competing against hundreds of hopefuls to make it to the final three in the themed design category of the Barber Awards, run by UK Barber Connect.

His winning freestyle design was created on stage in front of thousands of people at the competition in Wales.

Those taking part had 60 minutes to create a design, which had to include the words ‘UK Barber Battle’.

James chose to incorporate the words with a hand holding a set of clippers.

The 27-year-old, from Popley, has been running his mobile business JSB Barbering for a year-and-a-half, and is used to creating unusual designs for his customers.

The father-of-two, who taught himself to cut hair, said: “There was one customer going to a reggae gig and I did Bob Marley in his hair.

“I started to cut my own hair when I was 15 and picked it up on my own. I love the satisfaction of making people look great and making people look the best they possibly can. I love doing what I do. I’m very creative so it’s the best way to show off my talents.”

He added: “It went really well. I feel great considering it was my first time doing anything like this – I am really chuffed.

“The judges gave me lots of nice comments and were impressed by how creative I can be within 60 minutes and with the crowd watching.

“I am going to do it again next year and there are more competitions coming up this year. The amount of people messaging me and strangers saying congratulations, it has given me a push.”

James was presented with a medal, a plaque and a range of hair styling goodies.

Event organiser Anthony Copeland said: “The standards seen in the 2015 UK Barber Battle were amazing. The judging in James’ category was extremely particular and all contestants showed incredible talent.

“We are so pleased for James as we heard this was the first competition he had ever entered and we believe he will continue to shine in his career.”