Tynemouth Surf Co has been voted Coastal Shop of the Year by Coast magazine after being nominated by readers who have used the outlet.

Owner, 42-year-old Stephen Hudson, opened the shop in 1995 to run alongside the successful surfing school he also runs.

The first he heard about the award was through a phone call from the magazine a couple of months ago informing him of the nomination.

He thought nothing more about it until a few weeks ago when an unlikely source abroad told Stephen he had heard about his success in the award.

"I heard on the grapevine through a friend in Hawaii that I'd won," he said.

"I don't know how he found out, but he mentioned it to me a couple of weeks ago that he'd heard I had won.

"It's nice to get the recognition.

"A lot of people have shops and spend a fortune on them, but we haven't here.

"The counters are hand-made, and a lot of the interior decorations came straight off the beach."

A commemorative certificate honouring the achievement has been sent out to Stephen to display in the shop to promote his success.