Awards joy for Atonement

Shropshire-filmed drama Atonement made up for its Oscars disappointment by picking up a hat-trick of top trophies at the Sony Ericsson Empire Awards.The movie, shot at Stokesay Court, was named best British film, and there were best actress and actor prizes for its stars Keira Knightley and James McAvoy.

The success went some way to making up for last month’s Academy Awards disappointment when the film took just one of its seven nominations.

Matt Damon was among a string of top celebrities at the London ceremony, where he saw his action thriller The Bourne Ultimatum win the best overall film prize.

Simon Pegg’s police farce Hot Fuzz was voted best comedy, American Gangster was chosen as best thriller, and 28 Weeks Later was named best horror.

Movie stars Kristin Scott-Thomas and Chiwetel Ejiofor, meanwhile, were among the headline winners at another star-studded prizegiving ceremony last night - The Laurence Olivier Awards.

Scott-Thomas won best actress award for her performance in The Seagull at the Royal Court Theatre, while Ejiofor took the best actor prize for his starring role in Othello at the Donmar Warehouse.

But it was hit West End show Hairspray which was the biggest winner, taking four top prizes including a best musical actress prize for 22-year-old debutant Leanne Jones, and best musical actor for veteran crooner Michael Ball.

There was also a special award to Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber “for his remarkable achievements over the last few decades”.

His recent successes include the BBC1 shows How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? and Any Dream Will Do.