MANCHESTERONLINE'S sister publication The Manchester Evening News has scooped two prestigious awards in a competition to recognise the best newspapers in the country.

The paper was rewarded for producing an "outstanding supplement" about the Hyde serial killer GP Harold Shipman, who was convicted of murdering 15 women patients. The supplement simultaneously featured on Manchesteronline.

Judges for the Press Gazette Regional Press Awards 2000 handed the M.E.N. the Production Team of the Year award for the supplement and the special editions of the paper produced within minutes of the guilty verdicts being announced.

They said: "Not only was it packed with detail, but it was displayed in a well designed format." One judge added the supplement "brilliantly guided the reader through the most gruesome of murder stories."

At the awards ceremony held at the Hilton in London reporter Peter Sharples was named the Personal Finance Journalist of the year - for the second time in succession.

The judges said: "Last year's winner Peter Sharples is still the master of his field. He brought a highly readable approach to a complicated subject, well illustrated with local case histories."

The Press Gazette prizes are the latest honours won by the paper in recent months. The M.E.N. was named North West Daily Newspaper of the Year in the BT Press Awards. Reporter Steve Panter went on to the national finals and won journalist of the year.

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