Comic piano player Jon Courtenay hit all the right notes when he triumphed over ten fellow finalists to take the £250,000 prize on Britain's Got Talent on Saturday night after the final public vote of the series.

The rib and ivories tickler also earns a place in the next Royal Variety Performance.

A stunned Courtenay, 46, told hosts Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly that he'd been trying to ignore the prospect of winning the show because he didn’t want to put pressure on himself.

"This morning, for the first time... this sounds really dramatic, but I woke up - sometimes I've an idea for a song - and I literally woke up with an idea for a song for the Royal Variety Performance!" he said.

"I wrote it down and tried not to think of it as being a sign. Just amazing, I can't actually believe that I'm stood here."

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He added, "I can't believe it. Listen, thank you. You don’t know how much this means. You have changed my life, my family’s life. My mum, I can’t imagine how you’re coping right now. I hope you’re still alive!’

Courtenay beat James and Dylan Piper, Damien O'Brien, Aaron and Jasmine, Aidan McCann, Magical Bones, Sign Along with Us (who finished second), Jasper Cherry, Steve Royle (third) and Nabil Abdulrashid.