The Bournemouth Echo emerged as the big regional winner at this year’s Newspaper Awards, which highlight excellence in editorial production.

This week’s ceremony in London saw the Newsquest-owned title named Regional Newspaper of the Year and praised for its ‘first class layout and design.’

There was also an award for Exeter’s Express and Echo take for its Environmental Initiative of the Year for its Green Team initiative, which encourages schoolchildren to look after the environment and rewards them for doing so.

And Scotland’s Sunday Herald picked up the Newspaper Design of the Year award for its February revamp which saw it move to news magazine format.

Regional supplement/magazine of the year went to the Norfolk Eastern Daily Press and the Cornish Guardian was awarded the Weekly Newspaper of the Near.

However the Rortherham Advertiser lost out in its bid for the best newspaper app.

Bournemouth Echo editor Neal Butterworth, said: “This is the biggest award we’ve won, from the paper’s point of view this is incredible.

“Two year ago we said we have to make sure when presenting the paper it’s got to be different every day – it’s got to be dramatic. We encouraged the designers to use their imagination and went for a more dramatic appearance, especially on the front pages.

“Awards aren’t eveything but knowing that people in the industry back what you do is a fantastic feeling. We have a skilled team here – it’s their award.”

He added: “We also have a sense of humour – we are not a dull, bog standard local paper – we are trying to do something different.”

The Echo had to submit three consecutive editions for the award, these included front pages about a local airline going bust, Bournemouth having the most expensive fuel in the country and a campaign for a youngster with a terminal illness.

Editor of the Cornish Guardian,  Zena O’Rourke said she was thrilled to accept their award for weekly newspaper of the year:  “It is a team effort at the Cornish Guardian and everyone involved should be justifiably proud of this achievement.”

The paper is in the running for a second award next Thursday, June 2 when it competes against its three fellow Northcliffe titles in Cornwall and Devon Media for the weekly newspaper category at the EDF South West Media Awards.

Gary Cullum, director of the Newspaper Awards, said: “This was a vintage year for The Newspaper Awards. We had some truly fantastic winners and it was great to see so many close run battles in many of the categories.

“It’s been such a tough year for the newspaper industry so it’s great to see so much innovation and excellence being demonstrated by our newspapers, both in print and digital format.”