MITCH Fowles saw off some of the country’s top talent to win the singles title at the British Skittles Championship.

Fowles, of Lower Broadheath, defeated Brian Bonner, of Exeter side Saints, in the final by 10 pins to be crowned national champion in Weston-super-Mare.

The 37-year-old, who plays for Highwaymen in Worcester Friendly League Wednesday Division One, was one of 128 competitors who started the one-day event and managed to hold his nerve for victory.

Fowles said: “It’s only the second time I have entered the singles.

“I have won the Worcester singles title a couple of times but it’s a bit different to winning the British.

“You do need a bit of luck because there are so many really good bowlers. I half-expected to get beaten in the first or second round but, as I progressed, I started to think I had a chance.

“There were 600 or 700 people watching in the final so it was quite nerve-wracking.”

Worcester’s Westsiders, who went out to eventual winners Bath City, Numpty Dumpties and Morganite all lost in the first round of the team grand finals.