IT started with countless drawings of the Incredible Hulk and school reports chastising him for doodling when he should have been doing maths.Now, a Great Yarmouth man who turned a love of art into a career has had his talent acknowledged at the highest levels, winning a prestigious award for his cartoons.

IT started with countless drawings of the Incredible Hulk and school reports chastising him for doodling when he should have been doing maths.

Now, a Great Yarmouth man who turned a love of art into a career has had his talent acknowledged at the highest levels, winning a prestigious award for his cartoons. It was at the Scottish Press Awards, held at a luxurious hotel in the heart Glasgow, that Brian Adcock picked up the award for cartoonist of the year.

The award was for the 42-year-old's political drawings for Scotland on Sunday and The Scotsman on Saturday, and followed on from a series of near-misses.

Brian, who once worked for Great Yarmouth Borough Council before moving to Prague in 1999 to chase his drawing dreams, said: “I was on a round table with colleagues and other cartoonists, and when they announced the winner to be honest I thought about bloody time! I've been runner up three years in a row, and it's nice to finally get it.”

Not that the award, which Brian received late last month, was safely in his grasp at that point. After celebrations well into the night, Brian's award went missing, leaving him fearing the worst.

He said: “I thought that someone had nicked it, as the next morning no-one at the hotel had seen it. However, I went to see a friend in Fife and got a call saying it had been found.”

Brian, who has done illustrations for the Time and Tide Museum, now lives in Yarmouth with wife Hana, who he met in Prague, and there are signs his talents have been passed on to the next generation.

Just as her father did, nine-year-old Isobel studies at Priory Middle School, but this time her skills are being appreciated.

Brian said: “Her teachers are saying she is showing a lot of talent in art!”