Aberdeen’s Press and Journal has been named as the top newspaper in its group in regional publisher DC Thomson’s first-ever editorial awards.

TV presenter Lorraine Kelly handed outt the prizes to the winners at the event last weekend, designed to celebrate the achievements of journalists, photographers and production teams across the group.

The publisher says the Press and Journal won the best newspaper title because of a strong sales performance, after a rise in circulation since its relaunch as a compact edition in January.

And a special prize for outstanding achievement was presented to Sunday Post chief reporter Iain Harrison in memory of renowned former Post editor Bill Anderson.

Press and Journal editor Damian Bates said: “I’m extremely proud to receive the award on behalf of everyone in The Press and Journal family.

“The team has worked tremendously hard to drive the paper forward and achieve a substantial lift in readership and produce fantastic sales results with some great reporting and design.

“It’s not just for the reporters, subs and photographers, it is also for circulation, promotions and everyone else who helps produce and distribute the paper; they deserve this award.”

The Aberdeen title had an average sales figure of 68,659 from January to June this year, which was up 1.3pc on its figure for the last half of 2011.

Iain Harrison won his outstanding achievement award for consistently delivering front page exclusive stories.

Editor-in-chief Donald Martin said: “Iain can be relied upon every week to produce the goods and it is this level of consistency that is an editor’s dream.

“All of our titles have successfully undergone substantial change. We couldn’t have achieved that without the dedication, professionalism and enthusiasm of our staff members.

“This was an excellent occasion to celebrate and formally recognise the hard work and tremendous effort across all of our newspapers’ teams.”

The list of winners is:

Reporter of the Year: Ryan Crighton, The Press and Journal

Scoop of the Year: Kieran Andrews, Evening Telegraph

Photographer of the Year: Colin Rennie, The Press and Journal

News Photograph of the Year: Colin Rennie, The Press and Journal

Production Journalist of the Year: Amanda Richardson, Evening Telegraph

Sports Journalist of the Year: Steve Scott, The Courier

Sports Photograph of the Year: Jim Irvine, The Press and Journal

Front Page of the Year: End This Nightmare, Evening Telegraph

Headline of the Year: Anger over motion in poetry by Chris Ferguson, The Courier

Feature Writer of the Year: Sally McDonald, The Sunday Post

Columnist of the Year: Scott Begbie, Evening Express

Campaign of the Year: Dundee: Born and Read, Evening Telegraph

Specialist Writer of the Year: Jennifer McKiernan, Political Reporter, Evening Express

Young Reporter of the Year: Niamh Burns, Evening Express

Team of the Year: Pre-Olympic supplement team, The Courier

Unsung Hero of the Year for Aberdeen: Andrew Kellock, The Press and Journal

Unsung Hero of the Year for Dundee: Struan Nimmo, The Courier