A WITNEY-born designer has won a national contest to design the Olympic torch, with a little inspiration from his native Oxfordshire.

Jay Osgerby dreamed up the golden torch idea with fellow London designer Edward Barber and will see it carried around the UK, including a stop in Oxford ahead of the 2012 London games.

An “incredibly proud” Mr Osgerby said the 8,000 circular perforations represents the 8,000 bearers who will carry the torch 8,000 miles across the UK.

The 41-year-old said: “It was one of those moments I will never forget. It is our chance to represent our country in design terms.”

He said the torch’s three sides represents the number of times London has hosted the games – in 1908, 1948 and now 2012.

And he explained it was a stint at Oxford Brookes University that helped him discover the design world, in which he is now world- renowned.

He said: “I knew as a child that I wanted to do something in creative arts, but I had no idea what it was going to be.

“I was fascinated with making things and drawing, so I did a foundation course to build that into a particular direction.

“I learnt painting, drawing and photography over that year at Oxford Brookes, and that helped me decide that I wanted to specialise in industrial design.”

Mr Osgerby, who went on to study at London’s Royal College of Art, added: “Oxford has always been a source of inspiration.

“It offers opportunities for peace and reflection, as well as inspiration. There’s very few places that do that. I spent a lot of my childhood in The Ashmolean and the Pitt Rivers, which is the most amazing museum in the country and somewhere you cannot help but be inspired.”

Mr Osgerby, who was made a Royal Designer in 2008, studied his A Levels at Henry Box School, Witney. His family still live in West Oxfordshire.

He said: “Before Witney was developed, I would explore and play and make bows and arrows. It was the idyllic country childhood.

“When I was a child I was drawn to London, but now I appreciate Witney a lot more.”

Sebastian Coe, chairman of The London 2012 Organising Com-mittee, said: “I am thrilled we have a beautifully designed, engineered and crafted torch for them [the bearers] to carry.”