Tradesman's cutting-edge skills prove the key to owning a dream sports car

Carpenter Daniel Shepherd, 29, of Halifax, won the dream car in the Irwin Ultimate Tradesman competition after seeing off more than 4,000 contestants from all over the UK and Ireland. During the final, he went head-to-head with 31 of the industry's finest tradesmen.

His victory won him the Aston Martin V8 Vantage – worth 120,000.

Mr Shepherd said: "It's fantastic, I never thought I would own an Aston Martin. It really is a dream car. I step out of the house on a morning and there it is parked on my drive. I have to do a double take, I still can't believe that its mine.

"I've been to work in it a few times to price jobs up and stuff and people are amazed when they see a tradesman pulling up in an Aston Martin. "My girlfriend Lucy is over the moon. I might let her drive down the road and back, but that's it," he said.

Every contestant had to complete, against the clock, a specially prepared challenge that involved cutting, clamping, marking, measuring and drilling.

Mr Shepherd will now go forward to an international competition.