A soldier from  Ellesmere Port who  defied the odds to win  two prizes at his passing  out parade has been  nominated for a Your  Champions award.

Richard Hughes, 27,  will now become an  avionics technician with  the Royal Electrical  Mechanical Engineers,  carrying out  maintenance on Apache  helicopter for two years.

And his achievements  have put him in the  running for the 2013  Champion of the Year in  the Trinity  Mirror/ScottishPower  Your Champions awards  scheme.

Proud mum Sue  Hughes, of Ellesmere  Port, attended the event  on June 28 and was  surprised to see her son  step forward when the  prize winners were  announced.

She said: “He never  told us he’d won them.  Richard slowly put his  gun down and came  marching along.”

The former Whitby  High School pupil won  two of eight prizes given  to a regiment of nearly  100 – Best Recruit and  Soldier’s Soldier, voted  for by his comrades at  Arborfield Garrison in  Berkshire.

“They said it was very  rare for one recruit to  win both awards,” added  Sue.

“He worked extremely  hard. They all did.

“It’s something he’s  always wanted to do. He  was going to join the  Marines when he was  19.”