Trainee journalists from a wide range of weekly and evening newspapers have had their hard work rewarded with awards from the National Council for the Training of Journalism.

A presentation event was set up by the NCTJ's North East Regional Advisory Committee to recognise the outstanding achievements of students at Darlington College.

It was attended by editors from all over the North East and by representatives of two of the largest regional newspaper groups in the country - Newsquest and Johnston Press.

David Rowell, of Johnston Press, presented the prize for Johnston's Page Production to Hemel Gazette trainee Anna Huggins.

Runners-up for this prize were Debbie Leigh of the Halifax Courier, and Tammy Owens of Diss Express.

Winner of the Newsquest Page Production prize went to Thomas Cock of the Chard & Ilminster Gazette, and runners-up were Sarah Lefebve of the Basingstoke Gazette and Nick White of the Somerset County Gazette.

Jon Smith, lecturer in journalism and media at the college, and also secretary for the NCTJ, said of the page production winners: "The winners produced well-designed pages full of original stories they found while on their training course.

"The results reflect a great deal of talent and commitment by these promising young reporters whose papers can be proud of them."

The Chris Cox Memorial Award for the best exam performance on the college's 2001 NCTJ course was given to Alison Bartlett of the Oxford Mail. Runners up were Sarah Bayliss of the Craven Herald, Julie Armstrong of the Sunderland Echo and Anna Smith of the Whitley Bay News Guardian.

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