IT was a clean sweep for a talented Basingstoke barber who claimed gold, silver and bronze in a two-week period.

James Bradbury, who is a two-time winner of the UK Barber Battle, recently competed in the British Barber of the Year competition in Birmingham, and placed second in the event.

A week later, in a spur of the moment decision, the 28-year-old entered an Afro hair and beauty show in London, claiming the top prize in the hair style competition and third place in the beard grooming category.

“I just absolutely love barbering and the more I can do competitions like this the better at my craft I hope to get,” James told The Gazette.

“I was absolutely ecstatic to come second at the British Barber of the Year competition, as I had never done a competition on this scale and didn’t really have many expectations.

“I just wanted to go out and showcase what I could do and have fun.”

For coming second, the mobile barber, from Popley, won a £1,000 and a plaque which he said “will look nice in the collection.”

On entering the London event, the father-of-two, who runs JSB Barbering and has been cutting hair for over eight and-a-half years, said he had heard of the competition a few days before the Birmingham event.

“I thought I’d give it a go because I want to throw myself into every opportunity I can get, but to end up winning it was incredible,” he said.

James had to compete against other barbers in a 20-minute, head-to-head contest.

For someone who usually spends between 45 minutes to an hour on a client’s hair, this was quite a challenge.

“When you have hundreds of people’s eyes on you, there are lights everywhere and you have udges breathing down your neck, of course the pressure is on,” he added.

“But thankfully my work shone through and it topped off a great couple of weeks for me.