Junk addict wins Shed of the Year with scrap design

Wayne Dawber, from Crewe, won the overall competition and the Unexpected/Unique category

A man has won a national shed award scheme with a design entirely made from scrap and repurposed materials.

Wayne Dawber, an art and design technician from Crewe, also won the Unexpected/Unique category in a public vote which forms part of the Shed of the Year contest.

He told the Press Association it felt "amazing" to win adding: "Except for an egg and spoon race at primary school this is the first time I have ever won anything."

Mr Dawber's shed - named "Wrinkly, Rusty And Retro" - includes corrugated steel and vintage signs and murals.

"To have strangers deem me worthy means a lot to me as it means they actually like what I have made,” he said.

“As an artist and designer, trying to make a go of things, it's confirmation that I may be good at what I do."

Mr Dawber said the murals were his favourite feature of the shed

The 50-year-old added: "Everything in the build I scavenged from hard-to-come-by skip finds, junk shops, demolition sites I come across or farms having a clear out.”

“I'm addicted to old junk,” he said.

It took two weeks to build the shed and a further six weeks to paint the murals which Mr Dawber said were his favourite feature on the building.

"I think they work really well with the wooden panelling. I very much enjoyed giving them the patina they have,” he added.

Mr Dawber said it took two weeks to put up the shed and a further six weeks to paint the murals

He made the shed for his wife Ruth as she wanted somewhere for her gardening tools but admitted he “got a bit carried away”.

Andrew Wilcox, founder and head judge of the competition, said: “It's astonishing to see the incredible new heights our entrants have been reaching year-on-year.

"Wrinkly, Rusty And Retro is a great representation of the most popular trends we saw this year, with ultimate artistic finesse."

Mr Dawber is the first Shed of the Year winner to receive an overnight nature stay as part of his prize and will also be awarded £1,000 in cash and £250 worth of Cuprinol products.

Entrants are divided into nine different categories with the winner decided by a public vote which closed in August.