Northamptonshire's oldest milkman Tony nominated by friends for award

Tony Moulds from Holcot has a far more impressive step count than most.

Every morning at exactly 5.27am, he is up with the lark in preparation to start his milk round in Holcot.

For 70 years, the 85-year-old has been a face well-known and loved in his village and it's his cheery nature that has got him to the final stages of the Amplifon Awards.

Determined to make a living for himself, the former Northampton Grammar School pupil asked to leave education a year early at 15 to become a worker on nearby Homestead farm where he would milk the cows.

After the farmer there retired Tony took over the milk round and would deliver milk - taken straight from the cow - round to homes in Holcot using a bucket and a ladle.

The grandad-of-four Tony thinks he has clocked up 65,000 miles and delivered about one million pints of milk in seven decades.

Tony has been whittled down from 350 nominees to the final ten who have reached the selection stage in the Active Agers category, chosen by the public from around the UK.

Four finalists will be selected from each of the eight categories and the winner will be announced by judges in October, where prizes in the past have included a holiday.

Falklands War hero Simon Weston is chairing the judging panel this year for the 2020 virtual awards show, which has previously been hosted at The Army and Navy Club in Pall Mall and presented by the Duke of Kent.