Northampton's Jason and Thor battle for a chance at the Robot Wars trophy this Sunday night

Jason Marston, 47, from Pittsford, will take up his remote control and battle for the title of grand champion on November 19 at 8pm on BBC Two.

He is fighting with his homemade-bot Thor, a 110kg machine made of the steel normally found in heavy duty diggers.

Thor is armed with a swinging arm packing over a tonne of pneumatic crushing power and can be fitted with an axe, hammer or pickaxe depending on its opponent.

It can reach its top speed of 32mph with just a metre of run-up and is up against five other combatants in this

Jason said: "I'd say robots are my full-time hobby. I love it, there's nothing like it.

"Actually, being there is like a really bad day at work though. Once you've been in there fighting, you've got two hours to repair your machine. When you're by yourself, it can get very stressful.

"I've tested Thor on lots of things. He's destroyed washing machines, car doors, laptops, fruit. All sorts."

The new series features an all-new competition format, including a last-bot-standing 10 Robot Rumble.

Jason, who competed with an early version of Thor back in Robot Wars' original series in 2003, takes his place amongst the 30 teams competing this year.

House robots Dead Metal, Matilda, Shunt and Sir Killalot and five other teams stand in Jason's way of making it to the grand finals. If he makes it, he will fight the winners of the seasons other episodes for the Robot Wars trophy.