MINETY rugby's senior coach Cliff Garland has won this year's BBC West "Get Inspired" Unsung Hero Award.

He has been invited to attend the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year ceremony at the 8,000-capacity Odyssey Arena in Belfast on Sunday, December 20, along with 14 other regional winners from around the UK, when the overall national title will be presented.

The show will be broadcast live on BBC One.

BBC Points West reporter Alistair Durden visited Minety RFC on Sunday to interview Cliff and other members of the club – including representatives from the junior section, the girls' teams and the first XV – about his outstanding contribution to the club.

Cliff and the club had been led to believe that he was simply a nominee for the West region award – until Durden suddenly presented him with the prestigious trophy at the end of a morning of filming.

A TV report was broadcast in a number of BBC Points West slots on Tuesday.

Cliff, who has been involved at Minety RFC for nearly 20 years, is no stranger to awards.

In 2011, he was presented with the ‘Value the Volunteer’ award by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) in recognition of 'his tireless energy for the sport of rugby in general and Minety RFC in particular'.

Later the same year he picked up one of the gongs at the Wiltshire and Swindon Sports Awards held at the City Hall in Salisbury.