THE winners of an art competition have been awarded their prizes.

The Dover Prize 2001 is run by Darlington Borough Council and Darlington Society of Arts.

The winner of this year's award was Elizabeth Smith, of Ingleby Arncliffe, near Great Ayton, in North Yorkshire, who was presented with a £500 cheque by the Mayor of Darlington Isobel Hartley.

Her winning art work in pastels was called Peaches in a Blue Bowl. The second prize of £300 was awarded to Alan Dyson who painted a watercolour called Applegarth Scar, and third prize of £200 was presented to Simon Spence for his acrylic work, called Yellow Skies.

A council spokesman said: "There was a tremendous response to this year's competition with more than 300 entries.

"The quality of the work made it very difficult to judge," he said.