IRON man Laurence Shahlaei will be flexing his muscles to compete for a major contest.

Laurence, from Bussage, has successfully qualified in the South and Midlands part of the competition for Britain's Strongest Man.

The 24-year-old will now compete against 20 other men in the final stage of the competition in Butlins, Minehead at the end of the month.

If he does well enough, he could be given the chance to compete for the title of World's Strongest Man, which is televised every year.

Among the challenges are lifting a 280kg weight on his shoulders and squatting up and down as many times as possible as well as another event called the farmer's walk, which involves weights of around 130kg being held in each hand and walking a total distance of 60 metres.

At 22 stone (140kg), and 6ft 2in, he is quietly confident about the event.

He said: "I'm going to really try hard. I think I've got a good chance. I would like to get into the top five."

So far this year, Laurence has taken part in four qualifying competitions and has achieved either first, second or third place in all of them.

Laurence has been competing in strong man competitions for around two years now.

He trains in Gloucester where there are facilities for him to practice the actual events used in the competitions, goes to the gym three times a week and swims twice a week.

"I also have a sledge that has handles and I put 20kg weights on it and go round the field for half an hour to get the blood around the body", he said.

Laurence has already had his 15 minutes of fame because he played a stunt man in a film called The Golden Compass.

The film comes out in December and stars Nicole Kidman. Laurence played a bodyguard and is in fight scenes.

Britain's Strongest Man takes place from the June 24 to June 29.