A national TV audience has seen how a young designer turned his dream of building a luxury glamping pod into reality with the help of Europe’s top trailer maker.

Sam Thompson bought himself a pre-owned Ifor Williams livestock trailer for just £4,000 and then spent another £11,000 transforming it into a real transport of delight fitted with everything from double glazing to a wood burning stove.

And his incredible creative journey was featured on Channel 4 in an episode of the popular George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces.

Sam, 30, from Mirfield near Huddersfield, whose day-job is as a designer of medical devices for a company in Halifax, told presenter George that he and his 29-year-old girlfriend Jessica Allen, who works as a nurse in the NHS, were looking for a luxurious camping experience based on something very different from the usual camper van or caravan.

He took the first step to making his dream come true by locating a used aluminium Ifor Williams tri-axle trailer hundreds of miles away near Bath.

“A couple of months earlier I’d contacted George Clarke’s team and told them what I was planning and on the way back from Bath I was checking my emails and realised they’d been in touch.

“Jessica, my dad Colin Thompson and I were all then interviewed and soon afterwards we were advised we would be on the programme, so that’s when the work started.”

A priority, he recalled, was to make the whole thing waterproof and then to fill in the cattle breathing apertures along the side with 13 double glazing panels he had made specially for the job.

Sam and Colin also spent a lot of time on ensuring the trailer was well insulated throughout before installing a stone section on which the wood burning stove would sit and cutting a hole in the roof for the chimney. The whole cooking and heating combination is now perfect for producing a hot pie or pizza.

One of the most eye-catching features of the trailer’s interior is the sold oak herringbone flooring which Sam took great pains to install.

The walls are clad in shiplap/tongue and groove timber painted an off white to make the space feel lighter.

The bed cantilevers outwards and when extended is a full king size. Cleverly fitted beneath it is a kitchen unit, which slides out, comprising of food and wine storage, plus a fridge.

Another striking feature is that the rear ramp, up which the cattle used to walk, can now be lowered on a steel cable system to form a sundeck making a seating area with a wall clad in wood to give a rustic look.

Sam said: “The original budget was £10,000 but as I only used the best materials it ended up being more like £15,000 but it’s definitely been worth it.

“I’m chuffed to bits with the trailer and I think it would rival any caravan on the road. It’s also unique as I don’t know of another like it.

“We use my Land Rover Defender to tow the trailer and we’ve already used it on a couple of weekend trips to the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales.”

Andrew Reece-Jones, the Design Engineering Manager at Ifor Williams Trailers, loved Sam’s TV trailer makeover.

He said: “It really never ceases to amaze me the inventive uses people find for our trailers."