ONE of The Northern Echo's young reporters has come runner-up in a major national competition.

Liz Lamb came second in the News Reporter of the Year category of the Newsquest Editorial Awards 2002, which were held in London yesterday.

Newsquest owns The Northern Echo and is the second largest publisher of regional newspapers in the country.

It is the second major award Liz has won recently. Last month, she was named Young Journalist of the Year in the North-East Press Awards.

Her portfolio of work included investigations into the deaths at the Deepcut Army barracks, the railway pensions scandal and asylum seekers in the North-East.

The Northern Echo's renowned columnist, Mike Amos, was commended in the Journalist of the Year category of the Newsquest awards.

The Evening Press at York was named as Newsquest Newspaper of the Year.