A book written by a former regional newspaper journalist has won an award five months after her death.

Jo Powell who was a sub-editor on the Lancashire Evening Post until moving into journalism training, wrote the crime novel Shadow Falls with students from the University of Central Lancashire as part of a scheme which sees students from the university’s publishing houses working alongside respected authors.

Jo, who died suddenly in May, aged 53, beat off writers from all over the country to win the university’s ‘It’s a Crime’ competition.

Though she previously had a number of short stories published earlier in her career, Shadow Falls is her first work to be published by UCLan publishing.

Jo worked as a sub-editor on the Johnston Press owned Post until August 2006 and had previously worked at the sister titles Lancaster and Morecambe Newspapers.

When she left the paper she went on to teach journalism at the University of Central Lancashire and Salford University.

She also taught creative writing at Edge Hill University, which now plans to join forces with UCLan to dedicate a memorial to Jo.

For winning the award a box of books was given to her husband Mike and three children who said they were delighted that her book would be available to the public.

The novel is based in and around Lancashire and is available from Waterstones and Amazon with proceeds going to charity.