AMATEUR photographer Alan Dye may be getting international acclaim for his prints, but he doesn't think he'll take it up as a profession.

Since retiring from his civil service job Alan, aged 61, has indulged his passion for photography from his home on Howard Road, Culcheth.

And last week he got recognition for his work, being placed in the top 10 entries for a national exhibition in London.

A total of 938 entries were received from both amateur and professional photographers in 27 countries. From those, 172 were picked and on Saturday Alan travelled to London to receive a medal awarded to each of the 10 best photos.

His entry was a photograph of three young children playing in a workshop, taken in nearby Runcorn.

"In this competition you don't know what you're going to be up against. Anyone can enter, on any subject," he explained.

Alan has just been awarded the title of associate to the Royal Photographic Society, but this is only the second time he has entered a national competition.

"At the moment I just want to keep it as a hobby," he said. "There are professionals entering this competition and not getting accepted. I would have been chuffed just to be accepted, but to be in the top 10 really took me aback."

The two week exhibition is organised by the London Salon of Photography and takes place at the Cotton Centre, London Bridge.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.