He has worked in the industry for nearly three decades and now the milkman from Wimbledon has the chance to be crowned the best in the country.

But for Ian Beardwell, delivering milk door to door isn't the only thing that puts a smile on his dial.

In his 27 years on the job, Ian has racked up a staggering list of times he has gone above and beyond to serve his customers.

These include re-uniting lost cats and dogs with their owners, returning a laptop after finding it on the road, he has even chased car thieves and helped a woman after she was burgled - all while delivering milk and more to his customers.

Now to reward those years of service, he has been named as one of four people to reach the semi-finals of the Milk & More’s milkman of the year awards.

Hearing the news that he had been shortlisted, Ian was over the moon with excitement.

“It means the world to be nominated for doing a job I love by the community I’ve worked within for nearly 30 years," he said.

"We’re a great team at Milk & More, and we’re really focused on making sure we provide the best service to our customers.”

It was this caring nature which saw nomination after nomination flood in for him as he beat off nearly 1100 milkmen and woman to reach this point.

Patrick Müller, CEO Milk & More said: “We believe our milkmen and women are integral to their communities and we’re thrilled at the response to the competition from our customers.

"We constantly strive to provide a friendly, trustworthy service and Ian is such a wonderful example of why we believe every neighbourhood deserves a milkman.”

The winner will be crowned in November.