Yorkshire's Biggest Liar is a Window Cleaner

If Steve Watson (pictured above) said he had cleaned your windows, would you believe him? For the boss of Clear View cleaners of Wetherby is officially Yorkshire's Biggest Liar. He won the title last year in a tall stories competition at the Swan and Talbot Inn on North Street, Wetherby, and he will return to the pub on Thursday, October 30, to defend the championship. His opponents will include Steve Burt, director of the Royal Armouries, TV presenter Ian Clayton, an actress and a landlord. He was persuaded to enter last year by his neighbour Dave Richmond who organised the event as part of Wetherby Festival. There was an eruption of applause when Steve finished his story last year about a footballer called Fio Rerdinand who was one of his customers."I was one of the last to go on," he said, "and I heard these thespian types telling very clever stories. I thought I had made a mistake in entering. "I left the audience last year not knowing whether my story was true or not. I used to have a lot of Leeds United players on my rounds. Michael Bridges came to have Sunday lunch with us and he was a guest at my wedding to Sylvie."Steve, 35, who lives in Wetherby, won a small trophy for his efforts which he has quietly hidden away. "I don''t think Sylvie wanted it on the mantlepiece," he joked, "and I don't want our two little boys to think it's acceptable to lie. "I have prepared my tall story for this month and think it is better than last year's. It again involves window cleaning. I used to hear and see a lot of things when I did domestic work."Now I just do commercial cleaning - large flats, pubs and restaurants – and do jobs as far away as Manchester, Warrington, Scarborough and York. "Mr Burt is again tilting at the title and warns: "Tell Steve to watch out – my story is a cracker. It's about my work as a SATS moderator in schools. But I think Steve was brilliant last year and deserved to win. "I personally love telling stories and used to make them up for the children at Alwoodley Primary School when I taught there in the 70s and 80s. "The competition starts at 8.30pm at the Swan and Talbot and customers are the judges. A special two-course menu will be available for £10.95.