BY LAUREN PYRAH

AN ANTIQUES dealer from Barnard Castle is celebrating after being chosen as the presenter of a new Channel Four series.

David Harper, who runs Barnard Castle and Darlington-based antiques dealers Kingsley and Co, was told by producers on Monday that he was about to become County Durham's answer to David Dickinson.

Picked from 30 others who auditioned, he will present a new 22-part series, Natural Born Dealers, which is due to be aired in May.

In the winner-takes-all programme, two teams will compete to see who can make the most profit as an antiques dealer.

Contestants will be given £300 to spend at an auction and then will have a week to renovate and sell on the items at a profit.

The victorious team will keep the original £300 stake plus any return they make, along with the losers' profit.

And this amount can be substantial - the winners of the pilot show, aired on January 7, walked away with £1,290.

Mr Harper said: "The losers were absolutely devastated. They had put in lots of hard work and effort, but the other team walked away with all the cash. It's so competitive."

And the 37-year-old will also have to work hard - filming will start towards the end of February, giving the production team just over two months to shoot 22 programmes.

But he is under no illusions about the glitter of the small screen. "It's so unglamourous", he said. "It's absolutely a massive hard slog. There's hours and hours of waiting in freezing cold rooms."

Producers have also asked Mr Harper to go to the gym, lose some weight and get a sun tan before filming starts, but despite this, he says he has found his dream job. "I'm paid to talk about antiques, it's perfect."