The Ashoka in Johnstone has bagged a Curry Oscar for Scotland at a star-studded event for the annual British Curry Awards in Park Lane, London.

Having secured the runners-up prize at last year’s event, restaurateur Cook Gill is delighted to have gone one better and win the big prize this year.

Mr Cook said: “Winning this award was the best buzz I’ve had in 25 years in this industry! After all, the British Curry Awards are the Oscars of the curry trade. I’d attribute our success this year to the dedication and commitment shown by our staff – all their hard work has really paid off.

“Our traditional dishes play a large part in the popularity of the restaurant and, given that Rana, our head chef, has been with us for over 15 years, we are able to offer a consistency of fresh quality dishes every single day.

“The success of that consistency shows because we have a number of regular customers who have been coming to the restaurant for the last 20 years. It’s customers who make a restaurant and I just can’t thank my customers enough for helping us win such a prestigious award!

"It will now take pride of place alongside the Scottish Curry Award we won earlier this year.”

Amongst the celebrities at the glittering award ceremony were: Sir Trevor McDonald; Dragon’s Den star Peter Jones; Chris Tarrant and Hardeep Singh Kohli.

The annual British Curry Awards has been recognising excellence in the industry since 2005 and this year’s competition attracted a record 67,000 public nominations.