THE FUTURE looked bleak for Widnesian Dave Morris after he was made redundant in the wake of the closure of the Golden Wonder crisp factory in 1999.

Yet six years after being laid off, Mr Morris has qualifications galore and could be in the running for the title Mr England later this year.

Mr Morris, of Burns Crescent, was one of scores of workers who were laid off and wondered what lay in store.

He joined a course at a training centre and became the first person in Britain to earn five NVQs in a year.

His qualifications covered everything from information technology to ware-housing and even a qualification making him a NVQ instructor.

His qualifications and interest in information technology led him to start a degree at Liverpool John Moores University and after graduating attempted to set up in self employment as a computer engineer

In 1999 he decided to learn martial arts and took up kung fu. In 2002 he entered a tournament in Sanshou, a form of Chinese kick boxing, and became British Champion.

In September that year he travelled to the USA to compete and despite being forced out of the contest by a broken foot the judges were so impressed by him they awarded him a medal the following year.

In 2004 he decided to take up body building and became an instant success.

In May this year he came third in a major body building competition at Parr Hall and is now in training for a contest in Burnley for the Mr England competition.

Yet despite his success in recent years Mr Morris has found himself looking for work.

He said: 'Ironically, after all this, I am still looking for a job. It is frustrating, but I suppose you can't say I've been doing nothing over the years!'