A TREE surgeon from near Whitchurch has spoken of his delight after defending his title in a pole climbing competition.

Dan Whelen lives in Prees with his partner Emma Cakebread, and they successfully defended their titles in the Husqvana World Championship Pole Climbing Competition held in Ragley Hall in Warwickshire.

The competition was also shown on the BBC and Sky Sports.

Dan thanked the competition organisers Tony Bennett and Lisa Richards and spoke about an overwhelming response.

He said: "Thank you so much to everyone for the kind messages over the past few days.

"It has been completely overwhelming the response and and coverage from the weekend being on Sky Sports and BBC Sport.

"A massive thank you to Terry Bennett and Lisa Richards who once again organised a flawless competition.

"Well done to all climbers that competed.

"It was great to catch up with everyone especially those I haven’t seen for a while."

Dan was inspired to take up the activity after watching his grandfather taking part.

"I have been doing it for about 10 or 11 years, so quite a while," he explained.

"I have been on the circuit a lot longer because my grandad used to do it.

Whitchurch Herald: Dan and girlfriend Emma, who won the women's competition.Dan and girlfriend Emma, who won the women's competition.

"He started when he was 65 and then finished when he was 84.

"So I used to go along with him watching and supporting him and then end up having a go and got addicted really.

"He had a tree surgeon friend and went along to one of the shows with his friend and asked if he could have a go.

"And then he got addicted as well."

While many competitors work as tree surgeons, others including his girlfriend, Emma work in other jobs.

He explained: "My girlfriend does it as well, she's just won the Women's World Championship for the second time in a row.

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"She works in customer service, she's not exactly a tree surgeon. She just got dragged along by me."

Dan said he remains calm before tackling the obstacle and added his experience helps him.

"I am pretty relaxed to be fair, I don't really think of too much," he said.

"I just let my body do what it knows what to do. I have done it for that long that I kind of switch off.

"You don't really hear anybody shouting or the crowd and I go into my own little zone."

You can find out the latest about World Pole Climbing Championship events by clicking here.