SAINT George's Day is doubly special for Keith Entwistle ....and he doesn't mind showing it.

Keith celebrates his 30th birthday on the patron saint's day today.

And he is so proud of his country that he has forked out a small fortune for a one ft square tattoo of St George on horseback, fighting the dragon.

Dave Taylor, of Dave T's House Of Tattoos, Bark Street, has already spent 10 hours working on his friend's tattoo. The designs are drawn with a vibrating needle which leaves special ink just under the skin. There are another 10 painstaking hours of work to come before the St George masterpiece is complete.

Keith, of Croston Street, Deane, said that the pain involved in the work being done on his back was bearable.

He added: "I have three other tattoos already.

"I started with small ones but the artwork was good so I decided to have a big one done for my birthday.

"Dave has been working on it for about five weeks and it should be finished in another couple of months. It depends how often I come in to see him." Dave, who has been a professional tattoo artist for five years, added: "The St George design was an ambitious one because I had no picture to work from.

"Keith just told me what he wanted and I drew it freehand."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.