A PERSHORE man proved he was king of the conker players when he won a competition in France.

Tony Tyler was one of 70 people from France and England who entered the conker tournament while on holiday near the Dordogne village of Abjat-sur-Bandiat.

The grandfather of seven, who is celebrating his 59th birthday today, took part in the 14th annual conker competition organised by the English landlord of a bar in the village.

The entrants had to randomly pick a conker for each round by taking one of the laces dangling out of a bag.

Mr Tyler said: "I practised on the morning of the competition, as it was in the afternoon. I was very relaxed all the way through the event. After five rounds I was in the semi-final, I thought 'Goodness me, I could win this'. I was really pleased when I won, I had a really great time and met a lot of new people."

The conker champ, who has not played since childhood, will be going back next year to defend his title.

He won a bottle of champagne, a cup and a necklace of conkers with a medallion.