Veteran Scarborough playwright Sir Alan Ayckbourn has won the £25,000 Playwright of the Year award with a work which features the 'F' word, his first in 52 plays.

The offending word features just once in Things We Do For Love, which ran for more than 100 nights after premiering at Sir Alan's beloved Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough last summer.

The play, a comedy of middle-class manners and a return to Sir Alan's prime comic form, was highly acclaimed by critics, earning him his best reviews for years.

Speaking at an award ceremony at the BAFTA centre in London, Sir Alan said he was delighted to receive the award. "It is great to be back in fashion. I have had a lot of complaints about the language. People have said they have never heard such language. But we have to move with the times a little.

"Who knows? Maybe I will include full sex next time."

Asked what he was going to do with the £25,000, he said: "I'm going to update my writing gear a little bit and have a drink with some people.

"But inevitably my theatre does get a lot of money from me."

Sir Alan beat off a field of ten playwrights , including Caryl Churchill, Sir Tom Stoppard and Patrick Marber, nominated for the Lloyds Private Banking Playwright of the Year Award.

A judging panel of theatre critics including Sheridan Morley, Nanette Newman and Ned Sherrin described the play as a 'superbly constructed, emotionally stirring masterpiece."

Sir Alan is currently in London rehearsing for the West End transfer of the play in March, preceded by a run in Guildford.

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