AUTHOR John Dougherty has been presented with a prestigious award set up in honour of a three-year-old boy who passed away from an undetected heart condition.

John, from Rodborough, won Oscar’s Book Prize for his tale There’s A Pig Up My Nose!

His prize was awarded by Princess Eugenie during a ceremony at St James’s Palace on Monday evening.

Eugenie stepped in to present the award in place of Princess Beatrice who was held up on work duties in New York.

The prize, now in its fifth year, remembers Oscar Ashton, a boy who passed away in 2012 at the age of three and a half from an undetected heart condition, and looks for literary excellence in books for those aged five and under.

The £5,000 award is shared between John and illustrator Laura Hughes.

Their winning book tells the heart-warming, funny story of Nathalie, a little girl who suddenly gets a pig stuck up her nose, and the efforts of her class mates as they try to lure it back out.

The wit and charm of the story and its accompanying illustrations won the hearts of the jury, which included presenter Katie Derham, Julia Eccleshare, children’s director of the Hay Festival and Brigitte Ricou-Bellan, UK director of books at Amazon.

The inspiration for the book came to John when he worked as a primary school teacher.

Julia Eccleshare praised the winner: “The surprise comes right at the start, and what a wonderfully dotty premise to begin a story with, about problem-solving in the classroom. Brilliantly structured too.”

For more information about the book visit bit.ly/2rHXmUa