TRAINEE motor mechanic Antony Dyer has scooped a bronze award in BMW's hotly-contested annual apprentice competition.

The 19-year-old enthusiast, who works at North Oxford Garage in Summertown, entered a beautifully-restored 1954 BMW 25/3 motorcycle as his long-term project.

It had taken Antony, who lives in Yarnton, two years and more than £4,000 of his own money to transform the pile of rusting parts into a gleaming work of art.

And, having beaten off his regional rivals, he went to the final presentation night at the Sherrington Park Lane Hotel, in London, with high hopes.

Out of a nationwide entry of about 200, he landed third place, along with a £100 shopping voucher and a coveted BMW certificate.

Antony, who left Gosford Hill School, Kidlington, to join the prestigious garage, originally bought the bike - a collection of parts in various boxes - for £970.

Since then, with the help and advice of restoration experts, Crowmarsh Classics, of Didcot, he has turned it into a show bike.

But it won't be just kept in the back of his garage.

The fully road-legal bike can be seen out on local roads as now Antony, pictured right, can afford to get the odd splash of rain on it as, at last, he can enjoy the fruits of his labour.

Story date: Wednesday 08 December

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.