A YOUNG gamekeeper who feared he would have to choose between his college course and the offer of a full-time job has won a national award.

Matthew Harrison, 18, from Slingsby, near Malton, has been named Gamekeeping Student of the Year by the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation.

Gardener and broadcaster Alan Titchmarsh will present Matthew with The Frank Jenkins Memorial Trophy, tomorrow at the Country Landowners’ Association (CLA) Game Fair at Blenheim Palace.

Matthew said: “I’m really excited. I’d started a diploma in countryside management at Bishop Burton College and then the offer of a full-time job as under keeper for the Castle Howard Estate came up.

“The team at Bishop Burton were really understanding and worked with Castle Howard so I could still do a day a week at college and get my qualification.

It’s been the best of both worlds and I’m so pleased I stuck at the college side of things.”

Chris Dodsworth, curriculum leader at Bishop Burton, added: “Matthew was entered for the Frank Jenkins memorial trophy award due to his commitment towards his college course and his dedication and passion towards gamekeeping.

“We are very proud of him.”

Matthew has undertaken general game keeping duties which include wild game counts, habitat management, pest and predator control, feeding up, liaising with neighbours and farmers and preparing for and running shoot days.

He is a member of Amotherby Young Farmers’ Club.