THE Kent Messenger Group is celebrating after securing a hat-trick of successes at the EDF Energy London and the South of England Media Awards 2006.

The Gravesend Messenger led the way at the awards ceremony in Brighton on Monday with a double, being named weekly paid for paper of the year and winning the award for the best front page of the year, while the group’s business editor Trevor Sturgess was named business journalist of the year.

The judges praised the Gravesend Messenger for its strong supplements, cracking front pages and a nice clean layout, adding: ''Put frankly, it contained content to rival many daily papers and is a league apart from many weeklies.’’

The award for front page of the year was given for an innovative solution to an extraordinary week when the paper was confronted with two major stories of equal significance – a major fire which destroyed a town centre landmark and the attempted rescue of Wally the Whale who had become stranded in the Thames.

The paper produced two editions and allowed the readers to choose which one they wanted to buy.

The judges said the winner was the front page with the biggest impact and the one which demonstrated an innovative idea, executed brilliantly.

In the business journalist category the judges praised Trevor Sturgess for producing strong stories from tip-offs and giving human interest to his business stories.

They added: "He offered good exclusives that were more than the standard business fare.

"He demonstrated that he had put a lot of work into his articles and produced some strong and relevant pieces."

The awards were open to print, broadcast and internet journalists from London, Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Dorset.