A man with a hobby for woodwork has taken to the waves after building a boat by hand.

John Bender, 57, started work on the 8ft, two-person boat in May after seeing an article in a woodwork magazine.

Mr Bender, of Sea Lane, Ferring, who works for Norwich Union in Worthing, spent about 100 hours working on the boat during the evenings and at weekends.

He said: "I'm very pleased with it as it was my first attempt at anything like this. I was a bit worried it might leak.

"I had the sails especially made by a firm down in Bosham.

"It wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be to build but I persevered and took care with each detail."

He has named the boat Tresco after one of the Isles of Scilly, his favourite holiday destination.

His son Dom said: "He has previously built musical instruments and many articles of furniture but wanted to do something a bit more exciting this time around."

Wife Virginia said: "He would disappear and we didn't see much of him while he was building it but I think he has done really well."

Mr Bender successfully launched the boat from Ferring beach last weekend and plans to sail it in his free time.