Frances Bell, 40, who took the top prize at the New Light awards ahead of an exhibition in Birkenhead, said it was beyond her “wildest dreams”.

Bell, from Wooler in Northumberland, said the show made her “feel so optimistic” about Northern art.

Bell scooped a £10,000 prize for her work, entitled Lockdown, which features a poignant scene from the days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The painting was made at the tail end of the second lockdown, which so affected us all,” she said.

“The atmosphere of that time comes through for me when I think about the painting, almost like a time capsule from the past.”

She said the exhibition, which will take a 14-month tour of England after the showing on Merseyside, made her “feel so optimistic for the future of Northern art”.