WHEN it comes to the body beautiful, muscleman Eddie Edwards is streets ahead of the opposition.

The 55-year-old gym owner has just returned home from Italy after taking one of the world's top body-building titles for the second time.

Eddie, of Carlton Miniott near Thirsk, North Yorkshire, took the honours at the World Natural Bodybuilding Championships, in Sardinia.

He first won the title in 1999, when the contest was held in Paris, but missed out on the chance to defend it last year when he was unable to compete because of injury.

The contest celebrates bodybuilding through natural means.

"It gives you something other bodybuilders haven't got," said Eddie.

"I have seen blokes blow up like balloons - but they deflate just as fast.

"A natural bodybuilder looks like a normal person until he strips off. It is about definition. It is quality, not quantity."

Eddie took on competitors from around the world - some of them much younger than him - to clinch the title.

"My secret is eating healthily, looking after myself, training hard and basically not abusing my body," said the father-of-two, who runs Eddie's Gym, in Northallerton, North Yorkshire.

"It comes from dedication. I put my heart and soul into it."