THE Northern Echo's rapid development as "more than just a newspaper" has been recognised with the inaugural North-East News Website of the Year award.

For the first time in 27 years, the North-East Press Awards included a website category to mark historic changes taking place in the industry.

And the judges were full of praise for the way one of the country's most respected newspaper titles has been taken into the new media age.

The citation said: "The Northern Echo site takes the title for the advances it has made and its current performance in the medium.

"The content reflects the strong editorial hand of the newspaper, and its navigation is the best of the bunch.

Presentation is clean and understandable. Updating is impressive, especially in weekend sports coverage.

"The site is developing user input and shows a very strong commitment to providing the region - and the wider world - with a fresh North-East news and information service."

The website, at northern echo.co.uk, updates news 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and features video and audio content and allows readers to air their views as news happens.

The website's audience has grown at a stunning rate, and further design and content improvements will be unveiled shortly. Writers working for The Northern Echo also won honours at the awards, at Newcastle Civic Centre on Saturday night.

The paper's deputy editor, Chris Lloyd, was named Journalist of the Year after he also won Scoop of the Year for his world exclusive interview with Tony Blair on his last day as Prime Minister.

Mr Blair only gave one interview on his last day in power, and invited Mr Lloyd to join him on the train bringing him back to his North-East constituency. It was the culmination of a ten-year period in which he cultivated a relationship with the Premier.

As well as being the paper's political editor, the judges also praised him for the depth of his work as a columnist and feature writer.

The paper's continuing commitment to health coverage earned health editor Barry Nelson the Health Reporter of the Year title. Judges particularly praised his campaign to highlight the cancer drugs postcode lottery.

Features editor Lindsay Jennings, who is now on maternity leave, was named feature writer of the year for a hard-hitting and sensitive portfolio that included work on people-trafficking.

Chief sports writer Scott Wilson was crowned North- East Sports Journalist of the Year for the breadth of his writing, including coverage of North-East Olympic hopefuls.

And, to demonstrate that the talent is still coming through, reporter Mark Tallentire was honoured for being the North- East trainee journalist with the highest marks in professional qualifications.

The Northern Echo's sister paper The Durham Times, in its first year, was named Weekly Paper of the Year.