Gordon Burn literary prize awarded to local author

A literary award commemorating an influential Tyneside novelist who died four years ago has been won by a local author.

The Gordon Burn Prize was set up to support new writing talent, and its first recipient is Durham-born Ben Myers.

His novel Pig Iron - about the son of a bare knuckle fighter - impressed the judges, and he will now be able to spend up to three months at Gordon Burn's former writing retreat, putting the finishing touches to his next novel.