BBC presenter Ben McGrail is celebrating after winning a national award for his reporting of mental health.

Ben, who presents a weekday show at BBC Somerset, beat competition from hundreds of entries when he was shortlisted for the Mind Media Awards 2015.

He was shortlisted in two categories, the journalist category and the radio category for his Why is it so hard to talk about suicide? programme back in May, which he was entered for by the Somerset County Council Public Health team.

Ben was handed the award at a ceremony in London on Monday, which left him speechless.

He said: “It really was a fantastic surprise and I wasn’t expecting it.

“It was one of the first awards and I hadn’t prepared anything to say.

“I was up against some Radio 4 programmes and an LBC programme which featured Nick Clegg, so it was great for the programme to be recognised.”

Mind is a mental health charity and the awards celebrate the best portrayals and reporting of mental health across broadcast, print and digital media.

Ben added: “It was a great evening and we heard some emotional and stories, it was quite inspiring, “They didn’t really say why I had won.”

He added he will continue working on the show.

“It was quite a long programme with a lot of different contributors and was hard-hitting but I think done sensitively,” he said.

“We talk a lot about mental health on my programme and it is something I will continue to do.

“Even if it’s just a comfortable place for people to talk or for us to ask some of the more difficult questions, we’ll continue to talk about it and encourage others too so the topic is seen as a natural one and not so much of a taboo.”