GRITTY crime drama series Happy Valley has won three prizes at the Broadcasting Press Guild (BPG) Awards.

Sarah Lancashire won the best actress gong for playing Yorkshire police officer Sergeant Catherine Cawood, while writer and creator Sally Wainwright took home the best drama series and best writer awards for the BBC One programme at the BPG's 50th anniversary gala lunch in London.

The final season of Happy Valley gripped viewers and was hailed by critics when it culminated last year in a showdown between Cawood and her nemesis Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton).

But it was Mr Bates vs The Post Office - whose airing at the start of this year led the Government to take action on compensation for sub-postmasters - which snapped up the television BPG jury prize, the first time the gong has been given out.

The ITV drama brought widespread attention to the Horizon IT scandal, which has been branded the biggest miscarriage of justice in British legal history after Post Office workers were found to have been wrongly convicted due to faulty accounting software.

Stars of the series, Toby Jones and Monica Dolan, attended the event with former subpostmistress Jo Hamilton, whom Dolan portrayed on the small screen.