SNAP-happy East Lancashire MP Nigel Evans is delighted that two of his pictures have appeared in the House of Commons annual photographic exhibition.

The Ribble Valley Tory has had his photograph of young Indians playing cricket in a dustbowl canyon and the Jaipur Gate in Southern India selected.

They can be seen in the Upper Waiting Hall of the Palace of Westminster on the way from the main public entrance to the Committee Corridor, a common destination for visitors.

Mr Evans said: "I am very pleased to have got two pictures in the exhibition but I submitted 10 and was disappointed the others didn't get in.

"I took the two exhibited photographs on a tour of India with the all-party Friends of India Group.

"I was particularly captivated by the sight of all these youngsters just playing cricket in inhospitable surroundings.

"And I took the Gate at Jaipur because it showed another side of India. It looked almost Mediterranean. I am a keen photographer and take my camera wherever I go and it's nice to be recognised in this way."

The competition was sponsored by Jessops, the camera retailer, who provided some of the judges under the chairmanship of veteran MP and photographer Austin Mitchell.

The award winners were former Defence Secretary Lord Robertson, of Port Ellen with a photo of a long tree on the shores of a Scottish Loch, and Tory Defence Spokesman Gerald Haworth with a still life from Provence.