A Bethnal Green comedian landed the award which launched the careers of comics including Stewart Lee and Ronni Ancona on Saturday night.

David Mills, 42, of Wilmot Street, was picked as the New Act of the Year at the Barbican Theatre for his cabaret-style performance.

The prestigious award night, in which all competing performers had five minutes to wow the judges, shifted from the Hackney Empire for the first time.

And David will now be in good company as other stars including Russell Brand and Simon Pegg have previously been finalists but failed to win. He was chosen over 13 other comedians, with Prince Abdi and Julian Deane in joint second place, Darius Davies in theirs and Javier Jarquin in fourth.

David, who is American-born, has lived in London for the last 10 years and in Bethnal Green for the last seven and regularly performs at venues including Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club and the Bistrotheque in Poplar.

He has been a cabaret performer for over a decade and only shifted to doing stand-up comedy a year ago.