Lauren Green, Alec Rickard and Maureen Barron were all given certificates and pens.

For both Lauren, eight, from Mannings Heath, and Alec, 16, from Coolham, it was their first short story.

Alec, who attends Lancing College, is now writing a one-act play to be performed by his fellow students.

The full results were (with pen names):

In the adult section the gold award went to 'Heaven on a Plate' by Lizzie B.

Silver went to 'The Adventures of Sam Sub' by Phillip Howell and bronze winner was 'The Old Switcheroo' by Baggins.

In the Young Adult section gold went to 'Evasion' by Alec Rickard, silver to 'Art' by Joe Holloway and bronze to 'Danger in the Woods' by Rosie Smith.

In the Child section the gold award went to 'The Magical Gift' by Laurie, while the silver winner was 'Fine Hands' by Emma G, and bronze went to '5 Minutes in the House' by Matt Davis.

The Author v Author competition was run on all the Johnston Press websites by authorvauthor.com, though the final awards related only to stories on individual sites.

Visitors to wscountytimes.co.uk were invited to send in stories which were then judged online.

For comprehensive coverage of all the stories making the local news, read Friday's edition of the West Sussex County Times newspaper. Website users who wish to purchase a copy of the County Times newspaper but live outside our circulation area can do so by telephoning 01403 751200 and asking for reception. The cost of the newspaper plus postage in England is £1.53 which can be paid for by credit card. Overseas rates are also available, on request.