Two Blackburn restaurants picked up the big awards at a glittering national ceremony for the second year running.

The Asian Restaurant Awards took place at the Hilton Manchester Deansgate and saw the MyLahore team and Kebabish Original win top honours.

MyLahore which has restaurants in Blackburn, Bradford and Manchester was this year named Restaurant Group of the Year.

The MyLahore team at the Asian Restaurant Awards

Ishfaq Farooq and Bilal Ahmed who run the MyLahore Restaurant at Whitebirk said: “This achievement is a reflection of the unwavering support of our loyal customers and the hard work of our amazing team.

“After two decades of serving you, this moment is really special.

“From the bottom of our hearts thank you to everyone who has been part of the journey.”

Kebabish Original Blackburn, which has in recent years picked up a number of awards for their food and service, won the Best Casual Dining Restaurant honour.

The team from Kebabish Original in Manchester (Pic: R Tahir) 

Arif Amin and Zafar Iqbal from Kebabish Original said: “We would like to thank everyone for their support over the years.

“We have a really loyal customer base but it is also wonderful to see new diners coming to visit us on a weekly basis.

“A huge thanks to all the team at Kebabish Original for their hard work. They really deserve the award.”

Arif added: "Our best wishes also go to brother Shabir from Akbar's Restaurant. We pray for his good health and he is our thoughts."

Chairman of the Asian Catering Federation (ACF), Yawar Khan said: “These accolades can give a major advantage to the winners in gaining new customers and engendering customer loyalty.”

The event was interrupted by a fire alarm and BBC News anchor Samantha Simmons who was hosting the event calmly urged the event’s 500 guests to vacate the building. 

The city’s fire teams were called and quickly declared the building safe to re-enter, allowing the evening’s festivities to continue.

A statement issued by the Hilton said: “[The] hotel is equipped with a state-of-the-art fire detection system. The alarm activated and the alarm bells sounded on all floors.”

The alarm was due to a 'multi-sensor activation'.