Bradford – famous for its textile heritage – has been given a boost by the youngest contender on The Great British Sewing Bee.

Simon Cantrill, 26, an assistant at Bradford Industrial Museum, has an inherited passion for textiles as his father is a weaver in one of the city’s cloth mills.

Simon has also learned to weave cloth in his workplace to give demonstrations to museum visitors.

Viewers of the eight-part programme, which began its second series on BBC 2 last week, saw Simon create a simple cotton tunic top and, for the alteration challenge, customise an ankle-length wool skirt into a funky and stylish knee-skimming creation which echoed Bradford, according to the judges in their reference to his fabric choice.

His final challenge was creating a made-to-measure silk nightgown for a model.

Simon, who has a particular penchant for making men’s trousers, jackets and waistcoats, took up sewing five years ago after deciding to replicate a shirt he liked the look of. Inspired by a company making utility work clothes from traditional cloth, he progressed to making himself a pair of tweed trousers.

Simon lives with his parents in Bradford and is said to take over the house when he starts one of his sewing projects. He also plays the ukulele and the double bass.

You can watch Simon at work as he takes on his latest challenge on the show at 8pm on BBC 2 tomorrow.

The Great British Sewing Bee's judges are May Martin, of the Women’s Institute, and Savile Row tailor Patrick Grant.