A journalist from the Doncaster Free Press is today waiting to hear if a play she wrote will be broadcast on the BBC, after being named as a finalist in a prestigious Radio 4 competition.

Deborah Wain, who works part-time at the weekly paper, wrote Fifteen, one of 13 plays to make it on to the shortlist for the Alfred Bradley Bursary Award out of almost 400 entries.

Set in the Dearne Valley, the piece is Deborah’s first full-length radio play and tells the story of a spirited teenager who shakes up the home of foster parents.

Entries were invited from writers in the North of England on any subject, as long as the plays were suitable for the Afternoon Play slot on Radio 4.

The winner will be announced at a ceremony in Manchester today. Judges include Sally Wainwright, writer of At Home with the Braithwaites, and actor Julie Hesmondhalgh, who plays Hayley in Coronation Street.

Deborah said: “I am really pleased to have come this far with what is my first full-length radio play.

“It’s also great that a story located in an area under-represented in the media has the opportunity to be brought to life on Radio 4.”

The winner will receive a bursary of up to £6,000 and a development mentorship as well as having their work broadcast on Radio 4.

Deborah joined the Free Press in 2001 and has also worked for the Derby Evening Telegraph as well as having written for stage and TV.

The award was established to commemorate the life and work of radio drama producer Alfred Bradley.