A Dirleton author was celebrating her first award at the inaugural short fiction competition at Crediton Festival in Devon.

Shirley Muir, who is a member of North Berwick Writers Group, was the winner after she wrote ‘Trapped’, which tells of a murder in the mining community in County Durham, where her family originates.

And she was thrilled to have claimed first prize.

Shirley said: “This is the first short story competition I have taken first prize, as I only started to write fiction three years ago – and I am delighted.

“I travelled to Devon last week for the prizegiving ceremony on the final night of the Crediton Festival and enjoyed a tremendous welcome.

“My story has taken more than two years to draft, edit and develop, but it has found its niche and I am very proud.” Authors Jez Taylor and Joanne Graham judged the competition, which drew entries from around the world.

And when he handed over the prize to Shirley, Mr Taylor said: “We were impressed by the range of entries in the adult section.

“There were several strong candidates and we had some very full and frank discussions as to their relative merits.

“It was not easy to choose our winner, but in the end we agreed that ‘Trapped’ by Shirley Muir was the most accomplished piece of writing.

“It is a tightly-written, visceral tale about the death of a poacher at the hands of a gamekeeper, told in an authentic north-east of England voice, and is a moving and compelling evocation of life in a County Durham mining community just before the start of the First World War.” Shirley, who joined the North Berwick group two years ago, praised other local writers, saying she has “learned so much from my fellow writers in the Tyne and Esk community”, while also heaping praise on the group’s creative writing fellow, Tom Murray, who she described as “an inspiration”.

She added: “I cannot thank the North Berwick group sufficiently for their advice and support week after week.”