An author has scooped an international award.

Nicola Slade, 76, from Chandlers Ford has recently won the won the US-based Chanticleer International Book Award for romance and women’s fiction for her novel entitled The House of Ladywell.

The fictional town in which the novel is set is based on Romsey.

Nicola and her husband attended the award ceremony which took place in Seattle.

She said she was "completely shocked" to be announced as the winner.

She added: "I wasn't listening when they announced I was the winner as I couldn't believe I was even a finalist."

Nicola beat the five other finalists who were shortlisted and said the award ceremony was "amazing."

This is the first international award Nicola has received since she published her first novel in 2005.

Nicola has published nine books in total and is currently writing a sequel to her murder murder novel novel The Convalescent Corpse, which was published in November last year.

When asked why she decided to set the novel in a fictionalised version of Romsey she said: "All my books are set in and around the local area.

"I'm passionate about history and Romsey is full of history."

Nicola said she has had "a passion for writing since she was six or seven years old."

She added: "Even if my books weren't published I would still be writing

"It's a compulsion, I have always wanted to write."