Elbow have won the 2008 Mercury Music Prize for their fourth album ‘The Seldom Seen Kid’.

The band held off competition from The Last Shadow Puppets, Radiohead and favourite Burial to take the prize at a ceremony in London.

In addition to the award, the group also receive a £20,000 prize.

The band’s frontman, Guy Garvey, described winning the award as “quite literally the best thing that’s ever happened to us.”

He also dedicated the accolade to their late friend Bryan Glancy, who was an inspiration behind the record.

“He was one of the greatest men that ever lived,” an emotional Garvey told the audience.

"You don't get any more seldom seen than when you're not alive any more, and I think he would have appreciated the gallows humour in that," Garvey told the BBC later.

"I miss him every day. He was a great man and he should be stood here in many ways.

"That very heavy trophy there is going to be sat on Mandy Glancy's mantelpiece, his mum, because she's a particularly amazing lady."

Other groups nominated for this year’s prize included Neon Neon, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss and Estelle.

(by Jason Gregory)