A GARAGE owner in Harrogate has reached the final of a national competition to find the UK’s top garage technician.

Dave Pullan, 43, who runs Carmaster UK Ltd, in Camwal Road, Starbeck, Harrogate, with his co-director wife Rebecca, is the only technician from Yorkshire to reach the Jaguar Land Rover Training Academy competition finals.

From 12 finalists, the event, at Warwick, on Wednesday will decide the final three and eventual winner of the Top Technician 2009 competition.

Dave was among thousands of entrants from Britain, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, to complete a mixture of 27 multiple choice and open questions on every aspect of vehicle repair and diagnostics.

The top 24 were invited to take a practical and theory-based regional assessment from which the final 12 highest-scoring technicians were chosen. Carmaster UK Ltd, which was started in 1996 has six staff.

Dave was an Apprentice Of The Year in 1981 and reached the final of a similar national contest for technicians three years ago.

He said: “We place great emphasis on the technical aspects of caring for our customers’ cars to enable them to achieve the very best performance and fuel efficiency which is becoming increasingly important.”