The developer behind the transformation of a derelict barn near Carlisle into a £470,000 luxury family home has won a top award for the work.

McKnight & Son Builders worked with city firm Architects Plus to design and build the four-bedroomed home, Linstock Barn.

The scheme is one of four in Cumbria named in the northern region heat of the Local Authority Building Control (LABC) Excellence Awards.

Linstock Barn won the award for Best Change of Use of an Existing Building or Conversion.

Highly Commended was The Dower House at Frizington which is the work of R Nuttall Building Services, of Millom, Cockermouth architects Day Cummins and Alan Cornthwaite.

Wayne McKnight, owner and director of McKnight & Son of Junction Street, Carlisle, said he was delighted at the recognition.

He will now go through with other winners to the Grand Finals of the competition on November 9 at the Westminster Park Plaza in London.

"We took what was a derelict old barn and transformed it into the beautiful four-bedroomed house which we sold for £470,000. We are very pleased with both the project and the award," he said.

The winners and highly commended were announced at a ceremony in the Guildhall, home to the City of London Corporation, attended by 450 guests.

Other Cumbrian schemes honoured were the Lakeland Farmhouse at Watermillock near Penrith which won the Best Extension or Alteration to an Existing Home category.

The team behind this included Carlisle-based Thomas Armstrong (Construction), Architecture 519 of Leeds, Penrith-based Tweddell and Slater, Donleys chartered surveyors of Carlisle, York's Preston Barber engineers and MAC Consulting.

The prize for Best Small New Housing Development went to Russell Armer for The Avenue development in Kendal.

Paul Everall, LABC's chief executive, said: "The awards are an opportunity for us to celebrate some of the very best in construction in England and Wales, recognising the high level of quality and skill we can and do reach in the UK."