FORMER Welsh rally champion Chris Williams has been unveiled as the new duty manager at one of South Lakeland's top tourist attractions.

Cumbrian-born Chris joins the Lakeland Motor Museum from a key management role at a major supermarket and has a previous background in customer service and hospitality.

The 28-year-old also has passion for rallying and over the past five years he has been crowned Welsh rally champion, British class rally champion and North West rally champion.

Chris has taken on the new role to oversee the day-to-day running of the museum, including people management, administration and budgeting. He will work alongside current operations manager Chris Lowe to help drive the business forward, as it looks ahead to its landmark 40th anniversary in 2018.

“Ever since I was small, I’ve had an avid interest in cars and over the past decade, I’ve competed in rallies across the world, including an epic 3,000 kilometre route in Mexico," said Chris. "So, to combine this passion with my hands-on management experience is the perfect situation.”

He added: “I’m looking forward to helping further expand the museum’s ever-changing rotation of displays and showing younger audiences and families that you don’t have to be a motoring buff to `appreciate this vast collection of more than 30,000 items.”

Edwin Maher, Director at the Lakeland Motor Museum, said: “It’s a pleasure to welcome someone with Chris’ managerial skills, enthusiasm and technical ability to the team. 2018 will be our 40th anniversary year, so it’s an exciting time for us to continue cementing our reputation as one of the country’s leading transport heritage attractions.”

Father-of-three Chris lives in Millom and will be marrying his long-term partner next summer. His next competitive race will be the Grizedale Stages Rally 2017 on Saturday December 2.