A County Durham man has confessed it "means the world" to win the title of England's strongest man in his weight category at the competition which was last week.

32-year-old Seaham resident Tom Owens scooped the title in the u105kg category at the Official Strongman event held at Kaos Strength Gym in Preston on Sunday (April 7).

Tom, who trains at New Level Gym in Sunderland, claimed the number-one spot against 29 other competitors through his performance in deadlifts, the log press and atlas stones to name a few.

The Northern Echo: Tom Owens competes at England's Strongest Man in Preston.Tom Owens competes at England's Strongest Man in Preston. (Image: TOM OWENS)

Because of this major win, he has now qualified for Britain's Strongest Man and will compete again on June 2.

But, for now, after months of training, Tom is celebrating his win which has been a dream of his since childhood.

Tom said: "I used to watch the strong man competitions on the television when I was a kid, but I never believed it was something someone like me could do. I thought it was way out of my reach.

"But, I did get into it a few years ago by doing a novice competition and just absolutely loved it - I fell in love with the sport."

"This just means the world to me as I have always wanted to be England's strongest man."

The Northern Echo: Tom Owens competes at England's Strongest Man in Preston.Tom Owens competes at England's Strongest Man in Preston. (Image: TOM OWENS)

During the competition, Tom lifted 140kg overhead with four reps in the log press section and nine reps with a 310kg deadlift.

Overall, this put him at the top of the leaderboard and secured him the title all whilst his family and girlfriend stood on the sidelines and cheered him on.

Tom added: "I was thrilled when I won - my whole family were there including my girlfriend which was such a big thing for me. I love it when my family come to support me.

The Northern Echo: Tom Owens competes at England's Strongest Man in Preston.Tom Owens competes at England's Strongest Man in Preston. (Image: TOM OWENS)

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"I was destroyed the next day though - and spent the whole day on the sofa!"

Should Tom make it through Britain's Strongest Man in just under two months time, he will compete in Europe in June and August and could even qualify to become the World's Strongest Man.

As he embarks on this next challenge, Tom says he is "really looking forward to it all."