Policeman’s lot is a snappy one in contest

A POLICE officer from West Lothian is celebrating after winning an international photography competition.

John Irvine, who lives in the Murieston area of Livingston, beat off more than 18,000 entries to claim first prize in the VisitScotland Year of Creative Scotland 2012 contest.

He said: “I rely on resources like VisitScotland to provide me with possible locations that I might not have heard or been aware of.

“It was when I was visiting the website that I realised that there was a photography competition running I made a point of entering. Scotland is an exceptionally beautiful country.”

The online competition aimed to raise the profile of Scotland as a world-class tourism destination.

John’s work is now being displayed on the VisitScotland website, while he has pocketed a £100 voucher for online retailer Amazon. Two runners-up also hail from West Lothian – Iain Couper, also from Murieston, and Alan Weir, from Armadale.

Manuela Calchini, regional director for VisitScotland, said: “I’d like to congratulate John on his fantastic achievement in winning this international competition.

“As you can imagine, with tens of thousands of entries it was incredibly difficult for our panel to choose.”