Isles medical student in Bake Off final

A local student has reached the final of the popular BBC TV series The Great British Bake Off.

James Morton, 21, from Hillswick, has been a permanent fixture on television screens across the UK over the past nine weeks as he has navigated his way through the show’s arduous challenges.

A pastry bicycle concocted on this week’s semi-final was good enough to earn “star baker” status and a place in Tuesday’s final showdown, where he will compete against two other contestants.

The medical student – whose experimental style has seen him devise bakes such as a gingerbread barn and a sweet potato pecan pie – has proved a popular contestant on the series, which began with 12 bright-eyed amateurs in August.

National newspapers and magazines have featured the islander over the past two months, with James becoming something of an unwitting heartthrob in the process.

His combination of chunky glasses and Fair Isle knitwear have been a hit with ladies across the country. Now magazine even called him the “hunk in the tank top”.

The final of The Great British Bake Off will be shown on BBC2 on Tuesday at 8pm.