The final of this year's British Comedian of the Year competition has taken place at the Comedy Store in London, compered by Cally Beaton.

After over 500 acts applied and over 150 comedians competed in live heats and semi-finals around the country. The line-up of the last nine acts was performing to win the prize of £10,001, which makes it the most lucrative prize in comedy - one pound more than the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Show.

The prize money comes from a donor who prefers to remain anonymous but was present at the gig.

The competition is curated by The Stand-Up Club, whose flagship venue is in Piccadilly (London) and who produce and promote comedy clubs, corporate events and competitions around the UK.

The results were decided by the audience.

Third place went to Ninia Benjamin

Second place went to Andy Askins

And the winner is...Jeff Innocent

The other finalists were:

GEORGE ZACH

LINDSEY SANTORO

SCOTT BENNETT

JOJO SUTHERLAND

MIKE GUNN

STEPHEN GRANT

(yes we know it was a fairly white, male line-up...)