AN 'indispensable' upholsterer from South Lakeland has had her work recognised with a nomination for a Lion Awards 2016 People's Choice award.

India Polkinghorn, 23, from Broughton-in-Furness, has been nominated for her work at the Coniston-based Loungy Upholstery, where she primarily works on classic car interiors.

The latest nomination for Mrs Polkinghorn comes after she was a runner-up Apprentice of the Year and recently received a City and Guilds Award of Excellence.

Mrs Polkinghorn says her recognition has come as a result of her helping to build the profile of the company she joined three years ago, which has grown considerably in that time.

"When I started it wasn't doing particularly well and it didn't have a website or anything like," she said.

"So I decided to design the website and push us towards doing car interiors.

"At the beginning I was doing bits of furniture and then last week I was at a car show working on a Roll Royce, and that's only over three years. We are booked up now until August and we are booking into next year already.

"It's really nice to be appreciated. It was quite quite a shock but it's nice that the work is being noticed."

She added that the idea to delve further into car interiors came as a result of her work on her own Triumph Herald which ended being put into shows.

Loungy Upholstery owner Andrew Lawrence says Mrs Polkinghorn should be proud of her progress since joining the company.

He said: "When she started she had no skillset, I was looking for somebody with no prior knowledge that I could train up.

"It has been a long, hard process but she's got there and she can hold her head up high.

"There's very few people in the country that can do the work she can."

To vote for Mrs Polkinghorn, visit http://lionawards.cityandguilds.com/content/peoples-choice?f=R. She is listed under her maiden name, Ratcliffe.