A DINAS Powys barber has competed in the national shaving finals held at Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre.

Sean Sweeney is the wet shaving champion of Wales and has his own barber shop in Dinas Powys. He beat 14 other barbers to the Welsh title at an event held at Sally's salon services in Bristol on Tuesday, April 21.

Having finished as one of the eight highest scoring regional winners, he progressed to the national final which was held on Sunday, May 10.

The competition is organised by premium men's grooming brand The Bluebeards Revenge alongside the British barbers' association.

Sean said: “I still can’t believe I’m the champion of Wales – that in itself is a massive achievement for me, and to be honest, I’m lost for words."

The Britain's best shave competition ran from 10am-5pm and Sean left at 6am to make sure he got there in time.

In the first round, he overcame a former South Wales champion before going on to face an accomplished barber from Mayfair in the second round.

Sean felt he had a tougher shave because his subject had a stronger beard than his opponents.

"We were also competing at the end of the first session so many of the hot towels were lukewarm," he said.

He said there were different types of beards on show which made it more difficult and that they struggled to find people with similar styles of beard.

However, Sean had a "great day" and got the chance to talk to people from the British Barber's Association and tv personality Lauren Pope.

"I've received lots of bookings on the back of it which is great. I think I was a bit nervous with all those staring faces, especially being in the middle of the boxing ring.

"But I will be more confident next year and I look forward to defending my Welsh title and having another go at the UK competition in 2016."