The winner of this year?s Postcards from the Park competition has been named as John Rhodes from Thrapston in Northamptonshire. John won the East Midlands category with his image ?Lone Tree? and was named national winner at an awards ceremony in London on Tuesday. He wins £1000 of Jessops vouchers.

The competition, launched by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Big Lottery Fund in partnership with parks charity GreenSpace, received over 1600 entries from across the UK. There were twelve regions in total with a winner and runner-up per region.

Now in its second year, the competition, judged by photographer Mike McCartney and AP?s Damien Demolder, encouraged people to capture what they love about their local park.

Mike McCartney said: “I’ve been so impressed by the quality and quantity of entries. John Rhodes’ photo is a wonderful shot, which not only illustrates the high standard this year, but why so many people love their local parks.”

John?s winning image was taken at Brixworth Country Park in Northamptonshire. ?I?m delighted to have won,? he added. ?I spend a lot of time in parks within the East Midlands and Northamptonshire. What inspired me to take this particular photo was the dramatic cloud setting and variations in light.?

The winning and runner-up images will be on display at Mile End Park Arts Pavilion in London until 13 September. An exhibition at Birkenhead in the Wirral runs from 17 October to 3 November. All the images will be made into postcards, which will be available from Lottery-funded venues across the UK.

To view the images visit www.postcardsfromthepark.org.uk

Picture credit: John Rhodes

Lone Tree, John RhodesLone Tree taken at Brixworth Country Park in Northamptonshire