The plumbing industry tested out its plumbing talent at the Welsh heat of SkillPLUMB 2009 -a two-day sector skills competition.
The competition hosted at Coleg Llandrillo in Wales on May 6-7, is organised by Summitskills, the Sector Skills Council for building services engineering.

This year saw Simon Johns, employed by KC Johns Gas & Plumbing in Carmarthen and a student from Bridgend College, crowned winner of the Skillplumb Welsh heat. Twenty-one-year-old Simon competed against seven other plumbers from Wales.

Competitors carried out practical installations, including installing pipework, valves and jointing.

Marks were awarded for the candidates' ability to complete the design, installation and commissioning to an international competition standard with due consideration for health and safety, and the environment.

Second place was awarded to Stephen Kiernan from Dodd Group in Wrexham, and third place went to Darren Robson from Swalec Home Services in Bridgend. All three winners received a trophy for their efforts.

The winners of the semi-finals will battle it out at the UK finals in October, where the overall winner will get the chance to compete in the WorldSkills competition.