OTTAKAR'S bookshops, based in Salisbury, have won Bookselling Company of the Year at the British book equivalent of the Oscars.

The British Book Awards, held at Le Meridien Grosvenor House in London, attracted a host of celebrities and politicians, such as Iain Duncan Smith, Tony Benn, Darius and Ulrika Jonsson.

Jacqui Vine, manager of Ottakar's in Salisbury, said: "This award is fantastic news.

"We know that we have the best bookshops, and booksellers, in the country, and it is wonderful to receive that recognition from the academy.

"It really is an award that everyone, staff and customers, can be proud of."

The bookselling chain, one of Britain's most popular, also scooped The Book Industry Award, for its intranet buying system and an award for innovation in the book business, at the event last month.

James Heneage, managing director, said: "These prizes recognise the innovation of the company and all the work we've done solving some of the supply chain issues we had."

He added: "It really was a fantastic evening.

"Of the 20 awards only about a quarter go to booksellers and we won most of them. It was very pleasing, especially to beat other strong competitors such as Amazon."

Ottakar's began in 1987, with its second store in Salisbury opening two years later.

Since then it has acquired a further 91 shops, with branches from Truro to Inverness, but the company has always maintained its head office in Salisbury.

Mr Heneage said: "Ottakar's is an extremely locally-based company.

"Our branches have a great deal of autonomy and for that reason everybody who has worked in Salisbury deserves credit for our recent success."