FIFTEEN years after writing to ask how he could get a job with Lego, a boyhood dream has been fulfilled.

At the age of eight, Sam Johnson, from Benfleet, loved playing with the toy so much he decided there was only one thing he wanted to do when he was older.

The youngster wrote to the Danish headquaters of the company, telling bosses he wanted to work for them and asking how he could get a job.

Now, aged 23, after graduating with a degree in Product Design from the University of Derby, he has achieved his ambition after landing a job at Lego.

Sam will be a junior designer of the company’s toys, including its Lego City range, based at offices in Billund, Denmark.

His talents were noticed by a senior employee of Lego in July, who spotted Sam’s final-year degree work on display at the 2010 New Designers exhibition in London.

After showing some more of his work to executives from the toymaker, Sam was invited for an interview, which took two days to complete and saw him designing and building a number of Lego models.

Sam said he was really excited about his job and what the future holds for him.

He said: “I always used to enjoy building my own town designs when I was younger. Now I’m getting to build the next ranges, for a new generation of children.

“My job will involve a lot of Lego building, which is great.”

A spokesman for Lego said Sam was given the job because the company believed he was something special and a determined individual.

He said: “At almost every job interview we have, potential candidates telling us about their childhood experience with Lego bricks, or their children’s love for our products.

“But I have to say, Sam’s case is very special, since he so determinedly followed the advice he got from us about employment when he was a young boy.”