THE Southern Daily Echo has been nominated for a trio of top awards.

The nominations come as the Echo’s sister paper, the Hampshire Chronicle, has been recognised with another industry award.

The Southern Daily Echo, has been nominated for Regional Newspaper of the Year, Website of the Year and Photographer of the Year for chief photographer Stuart Martin at the Regional Newspapers Awards to be staged in London later this month.

Hampshire Chronicle, sister paper to the Southern Daily Echo, was awarded ‘Local Publisher of the Year’ at the NFRN Southern Region Awards this month when the paper was commended for its commitment to the region it serves.

The award was announced at a glittering black tie gala dinner and marked the 21st anniversary of the event with record attendance, held at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Reading.

The award category was sponsored by Nestle. Other finalists were the Western Daily Press and the Surrey Mirror.

The NFRN is the voice of the independent retailer and represents more than 16,000 news and convenience retailers across the UK and Ireland.

The annual awards recognise a wide range of excellence in retailers and those who support them, including local media.

Editor in Chief of the Hampshire Chronicle and Southern Daily Echo, Ian Murray, pictured, said he was delighted on behalf of the whole team for the Publisher award.

“We all know that we have the community at the centre of everything that we do, but it is heartening to have this fact recognised by others,” commented Ian.

“We also know that no-one works harder to support the local print media than the NFRN, we have been making a strong team together for generations and that isn’t going to change any time soon.”

The winners for the Regional Newspaper Awards will be announced at a lunch to be staged on May 20 in London.