A MALDON author has picked up a prize after her short story won a competition.

Bella D’Arcy Reed’s piece A Shift in the Gallery picked up the top spot in the Olga Sinclair Short Story Prize run by the Norwich Writers Circle.

Her story was set in the National Gallery and tells of the thoughts of a security guard.

Now in its third year the competition was entered by more than 172 people and themed on strangers.

Judge author Ralph Jackman said: “Beautifully written, highly original and well-executed.

“The twist at the end is heart-breaking, shocking, done so swiftly, I felt bereft. I know this is a winning story because days after I read it, weeks even, I remember it.”

Bella, of Little Totham, was also short-listed for the Dorothy Dunnett Historical Short Story Prize in the same week.

She has previously won the Essex Book Festival Crime Short Story Competition 2016.

Her debut novel The Woman in the Fresco launched as part of the Essex Book Festival back in March.

She took up writing three years ago having previously been involved in history, the arts and working as a garden designer.