A SOUTH Wiltshire fireworks company has become the first UK company to win the international fireworks festival in Montreal.

Against intense competition from major fireworks companies from around the world, Whiteparish-based Pains Fireworks won the Golden Jupiter award at the L'International Des Feux, regarded as the world's greatest fireworks competition.

It is the first time a British company has won the competition during its 23-year history and only the fifth time a British company has been invited to attend.

Eight countries competed for the gold, silver and bronze Jupiter awards - the pyrotechnic industry's most coveted prizes - in a competition that comprises nine shows, spanning six weeks and watched by more than 2.5 million visitors from vantage points across Montreal.

Judges singled out Pains Fireworks for its creative theme, the quality of the choreography and the technical standard.

Based on the eternal cycle of day and night, the highlight of the show was an ambitious firework image of the sun, which measured more than 25 metres wide and was suspended from a crane over the lake at La Ronde.

It was the largest fireworks image ever created for the competition.

Among those who saw the show was the British Consul General for Montreal, Anne Jarrett, and afterwards she told Pains Fireworks: "I had certainly never seen fireworks like that before.

"I was delighted, therefore, to learn that Pains had won the coveted Jupiter d'Or, the top prize at this world-famous competition.

"Please pass my congratulations to the team and thank them again, as I did on the night, for a magical experience."