The latest heat in the 2013 SkillPLUMB competition has seen 23 year-old Martyn Lee named the Midlands' best young plumber after a demanding event at Burton and South Derbyshire College on 12 June.

Lee (pictured with Paul Cullen of BPEC and Kane Bramhall of Burton and South Derbyshire College) is an apprentice with Adrian Kidman Plumbing & Heating and also studies at Cambridge Regional College. He beat seven other competitors in a head-to-head plumbing task to install a small central heating system.

Fabio Crusco of P. Chester & Sons (Bedford) and Bedford College took second place, while the third-place slot went to Burton and South Derbyshire College student Liam Ellison, who is employed by KRS Mechanical Services.

On winning, Lee said: "I didn't think I'd be able to do it, but it's brilliant hearing your name being called out as the winner. It's now given me the confidence to go on to do better at work and hopefully progress to the next stage of the competition."

SkillPLUMB has the UK Copper Board as its premier sponsor and is organised by SummitSkills. The highest-scoring competitors from the event have the chance to compete at a grand final in November, which is held at The Skills Show at the Birmingham NEC, where they will face competitors from across the UK and strive to be named SkillPLUMB champion.

Neil Collishaw, head of competitions at SummitSkills, said: "This is the second year we've visited Burton and South Derbyshire College; they have been excellent hosts and there was a real buzz in the air with SkillPLUMB, SkillELECTRIC and SkillPIPE all being held on the same day.

"We were also delighted that a number of our sponsors came to lend help and support, so our thanks go to them, as well as the tutors who visited to cheer on their students."

SkillPLUMB is a feeder route for competitors to potentially go forward and represent their country in 2015 at the biennial WorldSkills competition, held in Brazil.

To find out more about SkillPLUMB visit www.skillplumb.org.uk.