A BRADFORD artist and children's author has been named a winner at this year's National Asian Women of Achievement Awards. 

Simone Malik, 37, took the top spot in the Arts and Culture category. 

Miss Malik has recently received acclaim for her paintings including one of Aylan Kurdi, the three-year-old Kurdish boy, who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea in September 2015 during the Syrian refugee crisis.

She also hit the news recently after creating an image of a man wanted for a murder in Pakistan. She had felt the original image produced by Pakistani police looked nothing like the suspect seen in CCTV footage.

A testimonial from the judging panel said: "Simone left a steady career as a health officer to follow her passion as an artist.

"In just four years she has achieved phenomenal success and is one of the only female Asian painters in the UK.

"Her talent, her humility, kindness and her work to help vulnerable children made a significant impact on the judging panel."

Miss Malik was presented with the award at a glittering ceremony last week, where Sophie, Countess of Wessex was in attendance. 

Syima Aslam, co-founder of the Bradford Literature Festival, also made the shortlist in the same category.  

The awards are run by the Women of the Future Ltd team and they are sponsored by NatWest, and celebrate Asian women across the UK who are making important contributions to British life.

The awards patrons are Cherie Blair and HRH Princess Badiya bint El Hassan.

Speaking about her win, Miss Malik said: "I'm extremely happy at getting the award.

"It's a massive achievement, it's through hard work, dedication and focus - it has paid off.

"Everyone was a winner on the night because the calibre of women was absolutely amazing."

She said she was "honoured" to have won in the Arts and Culture category and was proud to have represented Bradford. 

Miss Malik is now working on her second book. It's aimed at young people and is designed to help them deal with issues in their lives.