A WEST Devon charity beat off stiff competition from more than 250 entries to be given a prestigious award.

Storybook Dads, a charity that helps imprisoned parents to keep in touch with their children, was announced as the winner of the E-inclusion Awards held at the European Commission's Digital Agenda Conference in Brussels recently.

More than 250 entries from 35 countries took part in the awards which were set up to raise awareness, encourage participation and recognise excellence and good practice in using ICT and digital technology to tackle social and digital exclusion across Europe.

Storybook Dads, based in Dartmoor Prison, uses digital technology to record, edit and enhance stories that are read by imprisoned parents for their children. The stories are sent to the children on a CD or DVD.

As well as providing comfort to the children, research has shown that maintaining these links helps to reduce re-offending.

The charity has won a string of national awards for its work in prisons and the success of the idea is measured by the fat that it has disseminated the scheme into more than 100 prisons nationwide, including women's prisons.

The scheme has been replicated in Poland, Denmark, Hungary, USA and Australia.

In addition, Storybook Dads provides the training required for the armed forces to copy their model.

Founder of the charity Sharon Berry said: 'The link we provide between parents and their children can be a lifeline to many of the 160,000 children who experience the imprisonment of a parent each year in the UK. To have our work recognised by the European Commission is a great honour.'