WHITCHURCH'S very own 'Mr Shropshire' says he is proud to have represented his county at a recent modelling contest, despite falling short of the win.

Ste Staley, 42 and from Sandford, recently went up against 50 other men for the title of Mr British Isles at the final of the competition in Chester.

Although he was not victorious on the night, Ste says he was happy to have taken part.

"What a fantastic weekend it had been competing in Mr British Isles," he said.

"I'm very proud to represent the county of Shropshire.

"Thousands entered, about 50 men made it to the national final. I didn't win, but had the pleasure of sitting next to the winner and chatting to him all day and he was an awesome guy.

"I even got to meet Miss Shropshire, who was equally an amazing person and also had the pleasure of meeting many other wonderful people."

The overall competition was won by Jordan Davies, representing Romford.

Miss Shropshire, Lich Crutchley, from Telford, also said she enjoyed the experience, despite not winning.

She said: "Thank you so much to all the contestants for being so lovely and making the experience worth while.

"What a day and congratulations to the winners."

Ste also took part in Mr Swimwear British Isles, representing Cheshire, where he finished fourth and recently took part in another modelling competition, where he finished second.

Despite his successes, Ste says he is calling time on his modelling career, to focus on acting.

He added: "That's about it for my brief catwalking career.

"I did it just to experience something different as I love having new, challenging experiences.

"I couldn't stop laughing when I first saw the catwalk knowing I was about to walk down it; especially never having done anything like it, spending the majority of my life working in an office-based environment!

"It was extremely funny and had a blast doing the walk, engaging with the judges and addressing the audience on the microphone.

Ste recently embarked on an acting career, and has aspirations to head to LA, having already featured in a number of films.

He added: "From now on I will long-term focus on my acting career, but first wanted to thank the organisers and also the fellow competitors for being a great bunch of people."