LIFE'S just grand for Teesdale Taekwondo expert Bryan Whiley.

Mr Whiley, of Butterknowle, has achieved the status of Grandmaster 7th Dan at an exam and interview in Manchester.

As well as having to demonstrate his physical and technical skills, Mr Whiley, of the Baek Ho club, had to submit a thesis to the World Taekwondo Federation in Seoul, South Korea.

He said: “After 32 years of practising and instructing Taekwondo, it was an enormous honour and privilege to have been promoted to the status of Grandmaster.”