Journalists from The Northern Echo were this afternoon presented with awards in a prestigious ceremony for the best of the media in the North.

Awards picked up during the BT Awards ceremony at York Racecourse included The Northern Echo's Mike Amos being named as sports journalist of the year.

Judges said: "His perceptive comment and subtle humour, plus his great eye and feel for an off-beat story, really impressed the judges who felt his writing would be an asset to any national newspaper".

Other winners from the paper were, Mike Urwin who was named news photographer of the year, and his colleague Stuart Bolton who was highly commended in the same category.

Editor Peter Barron said: "Over the past few years Mike Amos and Mike Urwin, in particular, have led the way in bringing awards to The Northern Echo and the fact that they have done it again came as no surprise and shows that the quality of their work is outstanding."

The Northern Echo's women's editor Arifa Akbar was named feature writer of the year for her work at her previous employer, The Journal in Newcastle.

Other award winners included the Yorkshire Post which was named daily newspaper of the year and the Westmorland Gazette which was named as weekly newspaper of the year.

The website publication of the year award went to a part of the "this is" network, www.thisisbradford.co.uk and the news broadcaster of the year was named as Harry Gration from BBC Look North.

The 14 winners at the Northern region annual BT media awards will now go on to the national final in London on June 13.

Read some of Mike Amos' award-winning columns here.

The full list of winners and other news from the awards is available at the BT website.

Updated: 15.20 Thursday, April 26