A regional daily columnist has won an outstanding achievement award for his writing on beer.

Colston Crawford, deputy sports editor at the Derby Telegraph, has been awarded the accolade by Marketing Derby, a public-private partnership which promotes the city, for his Beerhunter column..

He received the Royal Crown Derby award for Outstanding Achievement at the Derby Food & Drink Awards at a ceremony held earlier this month.

In a piece for the Telegraph, Colston, pictured below with his award, said he was “rather proud” of his weekly column, which he has written since 2004.

He wrote: “The award is unsolicited and all the better for that. The last one I won was more than 30 years ago (and only jointly) for a home improvement supplement but I don’t tend to enter them, which doesn’t help, I suppose.

“Yes, there are weeks when I wonder what I’m going to write about but the main pleasure in the column, for me as a beer enthusiast, is that whatever problems the brewing and pub industries have, there are still so many positive stories to tell.

“And that was the brief when I was asked to start it. Find the good news, said the editor. I do occasionally have a whinge about aspects of the industry, about poor service or beer, but, hopefully, with balance.

“Believe me, it doesn’t come easy to be writing about myself like this. It’s a bit of a handicap as a journalist that I’m not the sort of person to walk into a room and strike up a conversation with one and all.”

Colston concluded: “I take pride in the fact that the column is still here after 12 years. New content ideas come thick and fast in the volatile world of newspapers and their websites, so this is a bit of a survivor.

“Who knows how much longer? I’ll enjoy it while it lasts – and thanks for reading.”