The first national Asian Media Awards was hailed a huge success.

These landmark awards, held at the Hilton Deansgate recognised both the current and future stars of the media industry.

Mehdi Hasan, political journalist, broadcaster and author, won the accolade for Media Personality of the Year.

He worked on LWT’s Jonathan Dimbleby programme, BBC1’s The Politics Show and on Sky’s breakfast show Sunrise, before being appointed political director of The Huffington Post UK in 2012.

Mehdi said: “I’m thrilled to have won this award. It’s great to receive recognition from both my peers and the community so this is like a double win.

“My view is that the British media has a long way to go before it can truly say it’s done enough to create a diverse workforce, but these awards are giving us the chance to shout about what we do and be counted.”

Jimmi Harkishin, who has played the part of Dev Alahan in Coronation Street since 1999, making him the longest-running actor in an Asian role on British television was handed the Sophiya Haque Award for Services to British Television.

The award was named in tribute to the late actress, who died of cancer earlier this year, aged 41.

He was presented the award by Preeya Kalidas. A special message from the family of Sophiya Haque was delivered by Gary Barack.

Jimmi said: "These awards are a fantastic celebration of being Asian and long may this continue. It’s a great honour to receive this award and I feel very privileged to be able to act and do what I love on a day-to-day basis.”

Jamila Massey, one of the first Asian actresses to ever appear on British TV in 1960, received the Outstanding Contribution Award. She has appeared in Eastenders, The Bill and Minder and has also featured on well-loved radio programme The Archers.

She said: “This is my first acting award and I’m thrilled, it’s just beyond belief. Times have changed so much compared to when I started out. Parts for ethnic minorities were usually that of servants and contained only a couple of lines. I was persistent and gradually times changed and I’m pleased to say it paid off.

“These awards are a wonderful idea and will allow so many talented Asian people to get the recognition they deserve.”

Other categories encompassed the world of TV, radio and print journalism and those who won represented a wide range of individuals and organisations from the across the country, including the BBC, ITV and Channel 4.

Adil Ray, who plays Mr Khan in BBC sitcom Citizen Khan, won the award for Best TV Character. He said: “To get this recognition from fellow professionals is great. To make a successful show like Citizen Khan takes a lot of work so this award is for the entire cast and crew".

Documentary maker Anna Hall, collected the Best Investigation Award for Channel Four’s ‘The Hunt for Britain’s Sex Gangs.’ The piece reported and presented by Tazeen Ahmad, follows - with unprecedented access - a live police investigation, showing just how difficult it is to secure justice for victims of sexual abuse.

The Journalist of the Year category was won by Divya Talwar of the BBC, whilst ITV Wales ‘Returning to Tonfanau’ picked-up the local TV Report of the Year accolade.

The awards were sponsored by Asons Solicitors, UK Trade and Investment, International Learning Movement, MediaCity UK, Hilton, Karma Foods, Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) and Routes into Languages.

Partners for the event included charities Lendwithcare.org and CARE International, ITV and BizAsiaLive.com, with judging panel representatives from Al-Jazeerah, the Press Association Training and MediaCom.

For a full list of award winners and finalists see: www.asianmediaawards.com