A PHOTOGRAPHER and former Echo reporter is toasting success after winning an accolade for his striking images.

Peter Ellegard, 55, from Shoebury, was awarded the prestigious Travel Photographer of the Year award at the Travel Press Awards.

He started his career at the Echo as a reporter back in 1972, but his love for photography started when he accompanied his father, a press photographer for several national newspapers in the Sixties and Seventies, to work and his studio.

Peter, who entered his portfolio of five images into the competition, said: “I was up against two full-time professionals and I didn’t expect to come anywhere.

“It was quite a shock when they read my name out.”

Peter’s entries included shots taken while with Leigh storm-chaser Paul Sherman and weatherman Michael Fish.