Learning to dance the Eric Rowland way

Video journalist Nicky Butler admits she's something of a beginner on the ballroom dancing floor.

But our Nicky's always up for a challenge so she jumped at the idea of learning to dance properly.

And who better to teach her than Eric Rowland.

The 77-year-old dance teacher found himself in the spotlight when he waltzed off with a lifetime achievement award at the Oscars of the dance world.

Mr Rowland, who runs the Eric Rowland and Mandy Heath School of Dance with his wife, scooped the Carl Alan Lifetime Achievement in Dancing gong at a glittering bash held in London.

He collected his gong from the one-time face of Come Dancing, Angela Rippon. Mr Rowland said: "I have been overwhelmed by the amount of congratulations I have received from other members of the profession.

"It was a great moment for me when Angela Rippon announced me as the eventual winner of the lifetime achievement in the ballroom, Latin American and sequence branches."

The father-of-two, who has been based in Salters Road, Walsall Wood, since around 1983, started dancing at the age of 14 in Bournemouth where he lived at the time.

Leaving school, he became a clerk and later a manager for Dolcis shoe company in Erdington while all the time fostering his passion for dance.

But in the mid 1950s, Mr Rowland bit the bullet and decided to turn professional, performing in shows and competitions across the country.

The highlight of his career was winning the Midland 15 Counties Professional Ballroom Championship three times in the mid 1970s.