Briton beats 6000 to win 'Best Plumber in France' title

Last updated at 09:30 23 August 2007


French president Nicolas Sarkozy will be unknowingly presenting a prize for the country's best apprentice plumber to an Englishman, its has been revealed.

Oliver Watson, from Southport, will receive the prestigious Meilleur Apprenti de France at the French Senate in Paris next month.

The 26-year-old entered the competition, run by Les Meilleurs Ouvriers de France, whilst completing a plumbing course in Marseille.

Scroll down for more...

plumber

He said he would tell the president about his nationality.

"I'll speak to him with my broken French and let him know that I'm English.

"When you do the competition you don't give your name, you just have a number so it eliminates bias with the judges.

"I think they'll be a bit surprised."

Mr Watson quit a college design course in Manchester three years ago, and went to visit his parents who had moved to France.

Whilst there he was given an opportunity to train as a plumber, which led to him entering the competition.

The task was to use traditional plumbing methods to make a complicated pipe work to specific measurements.

"I was working on it after my day job and every weekend. It took about 150 hours to complete," he said.

"I knew myself that it was very, very accurate and I was confident it would go far."

Mr Watson, whose father is English and mother is French, took three years to become fully qualified in France before returning to England to work for a plumbing company in Manchester.