Yorkshire's Jeremy Dyson, one quarter of the team behind the hit television show The League of Gentlemen, is basking in the limelight of a solo success - and it has nothing to do with TV.

He is the winner of the Edge Hill short story prize for his collection The Cranes That Build the Cranes. It is a compilation of ghoulish tales, and overflows with black humour. Mr Dyson, 44, tells People: "It's wonderful to win the award as I wasn't expecting it at all. When you write fiction, you put it out there and it's usually quite quiet so to win the recognition is very encouraging. It helps you carry on with it."

His latest project, Ghost Stories, is currently touring the UK and attracting rave reviews in London's West End. He is also working on another play - an adaptation of Roald Dahl stories - which will be on at the Lyric Theatre, London in January, plus a couple of film scripts. The Edge Hill prize is the latest in a string of successes for Mr Dyson, who lives in Ilkley, West Yorkshire. His first collection of short stories, Never Trust a Rabbit, was critically-acclaimed when it debuted in 2000 and in 2006, his first novel, What Happens Now, was nominated for the Goss First Novel award.

He is working on another novel and has plans for more short stories after that. The father-of-two went to Leeds Grammar School before studying philosophy at the University of Leeds and completing an MA in screenwriting.