It demands grooming every morning, requires heaps of wax and even gets in the way of work.

But these are small prices to pay for the man with Croydon's finest - and Britain's second-best - moustache. 

James Dyer, 37, picked up silver at the British Beard and Moustache Championships this month. And now his famous facial hair is going global. 

He will line up alongside hundreds of other furry-faced competitors from around the world in a bid to be crowned the undisputed top of the 'taches.

Mr Dyer, who lives in Caterham and works at Allianz Global Assitance in East Croydon, started growing his soup-strainer in 2011 and has not looked back.

He joined the Handlebar Club - an international society for sporters of handlebar moustaches - before entering into the 2012 British Championships, where he missed out on a medal.

But after fine-tuning his whiskers, he finished second in the English Moustache category - which stipulates slender growth sideways from the lips - at the sell-out competition in Bath on September 13. 

For Mr Dyer, it made the hard work worth it. He said: "It was great to get a trophy. There was some strong competition.

"There's a quite a lot of work that goes into it. There's a lot of conditioning and wax. It takes about 10 or 15 minutes in the morning each day to get ready, and then there's the price of the product. It takes quite a long time."

Your Local Guardian:

James Dyer on-stage at the British Beard and Moustache Championships

He added: "I usually style it straight out on the weekends but during the week I have to put it up because I work on the phone and the bristles rub against the mouthpiece."

Mr Dyer, who dressed in a steampunk style for the British championships, now has the world stage in his sights. He will compete the World Beard and Moustache Championships in Leogang, Austria, in October next year. 

Have you got better facial hair than James? Prove it! Send your snaps to chris.baynes@london.newsquest.co.uk