A regional daily has retained its Newspaper of the Year crown at the Midlands Media Awards.

The title was one of three gongs won by Wolverhampton’s Express & Star at the ceremony, which was held on Friday night.

There were also wins for the Express & Star’s Luke Hatfield, who took home Multi-media Journalist of the Year, and Tim Thursfield, who was awarded the Tony Flanagan Photographer of the Year prize.

The Birmingham Mail and its Birmingham Live sister website also scooped a hat-trick – winning Team of the Year for their coverage of the play-off final victory for football club Aston Villa, at whose Villa Park home the ceremony was held, and Story of the Year for their coverage of the LGBT equality teaching protests in Birmingham.

Zoe Chamberlain, who works for the sister titles, was awarded Daily News Reporter of the Year, while the equivalent honour for journalists on weekly newspapers was won by Bev Holder, of the Stourbridge News.

Of the E&S retaining its title, chairman of the judges Laurie Upshon said: “There’s an awful lot in it – and that’s a great selling point.

“With more than 220 entries, these awards really do reflect the wonderfully diverse region we serve.

“There were excellent submissions from across the region which made the judges’ jobs extremely difficult, but we were
delighted by the quality of work submitted.”

The full list of winners at the awards, hosted by the Birmingham Press Club, is as follows:

Newcomer of the Year
Helen Hoddinott, Free Radio

Business Journalist of the Year
Mark Gough, ITV News Central

Columnist of the Year
Toby Neal, Shropshire Star

Blogger of the Year
Adrian Goldberg, Kick in the Grass/BBC

Feature Writer of the Year
Rebecca Woods, BBC

Campaign of the Year
Alicia Kelly, Matthew Dresch and Grace Walton, Newsquest/Worcester News

Magazine of the Year
99 Percent Lifestyle

Supplement of the Year
Oxford Mail

Sports Journalist of the Year (Broadcast)
Ian Winter, BBC Midlands Today

Sports Journalist of the Year (Print)
Bobby Bridge, Coventry Telegraph

Multi-media Journalist of the Year
Luke Hatfield, Express & Star

Tony Flanagan Photographer of the Year Award
Tim Thursfield, Express & Star

Radio Journalist of the Year
Adrian Goldberg, Kick in the Grass Productions/BBC

Television Journalist of the Year
Mark Gough and Phil Brewster, both ITV News Central

Best Use of Social Media
ITV News Central

Team of the Year
Birmingham Mail/Birmingham Live

PR Campaign
Story Comms

News Reporter of the Year (Weekly)
Bev Holder, Stourbridge News

News Reporter of the Year (Daily/Sunday)
Zoe Chamberlain, Birmingham Mail/Birmingham Live

Website of the Year
Oli Hills, Birmingham Updates

Daily/Sunday Newspaper of the Year
Express & Star

Weekly Newspaper of the Year
The Staffordshire Newsletter

Story of the Year
Birmingham Live/Birmingham Mail

The President’s Award
Tony Neal, Shropshire Star