A STAFF photographer with the Kent Messenger Group has taken third place in a national competition. Grant Falvey gained a certificate of merit at the National Newspaper Society's Weekly Newspaper Awards 2001.

Mr Falvey's three entries in the best photographer for a paid-for weekly newspaper category comprised a picture of a burning pyre of sheep during the Foot and Mouth crisis used on the front page of the Sheerness Times Guardian, a snap of Kent cricketer Matthew Walker in action against Nottinghamshire at Maidstone's Mote Park and a shot of a young boy playing in a street flooded by burst water mains in Eccles, near Maidstone

All three pictures appeared in the Kent Messenger newspaper. Simon Irwin, the KM Group's associate director - editorial, presented Mr Falvey, with his certificate at the company's headquarters at Larkfield.

Mr Falvey, 28, said: "I'm very surprised and slightly shocked but I think it's fantastic, excellent news. It shows the judges look at everybody's work."

Mr Falvey, a father of three, began working for the Kent Messenger Group in July 1998. KM Group picture services editor Barry Hollis, said: "He's the most willing and keen person I have come across."