MARK LOVE is a real high-flyer in the sport of BMX.

So much so that the Canterbury teenager has attracted sponsorship from Padded Cell, one of the sport's biggest importers of components and accessories.

Mark, 17, known as "Maggot" to his mates, took up the sport five years ago, and was spotted by Padded Cell's general manager Mark Malone on a trip to the Unreal Skate Park on the Eurolink Industrial Estate in Sittingbourne. He was so impressed that he offered Mark the chance there and then to ride one of their new German models called Sputnic, and he is now one of 25 riders promoting the company's name.

Malone said: "Mark has an obvious talent, enjoys riding and has the right image for the sport that we want to project. BMX is a lifestyle sport, and there is no coaching attached to it. Youngsters like Mark are self-taught."

By day Mark works as a labourer for a firm of landscape gardeners, but then rushes off to catch a train to Sittingbourne to spend two hours on his bike.

He said: "I started BMX when I was 12. My mates and I had done roller-blading and skateboarding, and wanted to do something else. We decided to take up BMX, and just taught each other."

Mark took part in the Urban Games, a big BMX meeting on Clapham Common in July, and he will be at the Backyard Jam to be held in Derby in October, a national BMX competition which attracts enthusiasts from all over the country, and around the world.

He said: "The Sputnic is a great bike to ride, and my favourite tricks are the spins and whips that can take me more than five feet in the air."