SEVEN-YEAR-OLD Oscar Smith could be on his way to hist first national title.

The Bridport lad is one of the 10 finalists chosen in the search for the UK’s Sleepiest Kid.

Online bed retailer Time4Sleep.co.uk ran the competition to find the children in the UK who just can’t keep awake, falling asleep in the funniest of places.

It turns out there are hundreds of children who have difficulty keeping their eyes open and the company saw entries ranging from children asleep face down in plates of food, zonked out on a park bench, on their tricycles, on stairways or in Oscar's case on top of his family pony Dipsy.

To help judges decide who wears the crown local residents are being invited to support Oscar by liking the picture on Facebook, to help the judges decide who deserves the sleepiest child title.

The winner will receive a new children’s bed of their choice worth up to the value of £500.

Oscar's mum Katie, 34, St Mary's school receptionist where Oscar is a pupil, said she loves entering competitions and her boys - she has three children - are desperately in need of a new bed.

She said: "I was looking at the competition and this picture jumped into my head straight away because it is so funny.

"He has fallen asleep at lots of different places, eating food quite a lot of the time or flat out on the floor.

"Dipsy is such a star. Oscar had been working hard helping mucking out, sweeping the yard and brushing the horse so I just popped him on there and he flopped.

"He does have a lots of energy then suddenly he'll get hungry and say he wants a chocolate bar but fall asleep before he can eat it.

"He just gets very hungry before he sleeps which is very odd but then can't stay awake to eat."

Although Katie loves entering competitions she doesn't pay much attention to whether she's won - that way she's pleasantly surprised when things pop through her letter box.

She said: "I have won quite a few things like hotel stays and I won some money and a phone I have been quite luck. It is fun and it is really exciting when you get an unexpectedly through the door. did get a book randomly through the other day,k which was nice to get to read things you otherwise wouldn't.

"But winning the bed would be really nice because my boys really need a new bed.

Jonathan Warren, owner of Time4Sleep.co.uk, said: “We all know how funny children can be, and this competition pulls together family’s memories from across the country. It was incredibly difficult to pick just 10 finalists, but Oscar’s image was one that really stood out.

“We hope the people of Bridport will get involved and support Katie in winning a brand new bed for Oscar!”

All finalists can be found  online at time4sleep.co.uk/blog/sleepy-kids-top-10-finalists/