To celebrate the £7m refurbishment of its flagship Saffron Walden branch, Ridgeons, has handed lucky winner Darren Petchey, the keys to a brand-new Mercedes-Benz Vito van, worth over £21,000.

Mr Petchey entered the competition after spending £100 in the branch, and after a three-month competition, an independent representative picked him out as the winner.

Mr Petchey and his father, of Petchey Building Contractors, have been loyal customers of Ridgeons since 1980. After his father passed away at the end of last year, Mr Petchey has continued the family business and has seen it go from strength-to-strength.

My Petchey said: “My family have been customers of Ridgeons for nearly 40 years and have always received great customer service from them. I haven’t won anything before apart from a game of bingo on holiday, so I never imagined I would win when I entered the competition!

“Having this new van will help me no-end with my business and make getting from job-to-job a much more pleasant experience.”

The Mercedes-Benz Vito 111cdi Long, 1600 Turbo diesel was kindly supplied by Orwell Truck & Van. Second prize in the competition was an iPad mini and the third-place winner picked up £100 worth of Argos vouchers.

Senior area manager, Darren Tobyn, said: “Unsurprisingly we have had a really great response to this competition, so it’s with great pleasure I hand over the keys to Darren. At Ridgeons our customers always come first so we like to reward them for their loyalty and what better reward than a brand-new Mercedes van!”

Photo caption: Darren Petchey collects his new van from Ridgeons Saffron Walden customer service manager, lightside, Andy Peach and senior area manager Darren Tobyn.