ITV Granada Reports wins Royal Television Society award for Manchester Arena coverage

ITV Granada Reports is celebrating success after winning a Royal Television Society award for its coverage of the inquiry into the Manchester Arena attack.

The team won the Nations and Regions News Award for its programme on the emergency response.

The judges said: "The finalists all produced exceptional programmes with impressive story-telling that shone a light on controversial and contentious issues.

"The winner, however, made the jurors angry because the cold hard facts were barely believable.

"The jury agreed it was simply an outstanding, powerful, and well-constructed watch."

Lucy West, Head of News for Granada, said: "It’s a tremendous honour to have our programme recognised by the Royal Television Society.

"I want to thank the whole Granada team for their dedication to the Manchester Arena bomb coverage, always putting the families and those directly affected at the heart of our story telling.

"A special thank you to Amy Welch whose tenacity, care and excellent journalism has been at the centre of our work.

"We must remember the 22 who sadly attended what should’ve been a fun night out and lost their lives to a cruel act of terror.

"We pay tribute to the families dignity and hope today, another important day, as the final chapter of the inquiry is published offers some answers to their many questions."

ITV took home five awards on the night, other winners included:

• Paul Brand was named Political Journalist of the Year

• ITV's coverage of Partygate won Scoop of the Year

• The Partygate coverage also won News Coverage (Home) of the Year

• The Crossing won the Current Affairs (Home) prize

The awards which spanned 21 categories, celebrated and recognised journalism talent across the television industry.

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