Two local venues have come out on top at an awards show celebrating the original music that Dorset has to offer.

The Dorset Original Music Awards (OMAs) celebrate music talent and the creative services that support it.

The event brought some red carpet glamour to the Lighthouse in Poole and there was a fantastic line-up of musicians, venues and anyone involved in the music industry, all hoping to come away with an award.

Popular live music pubs The Three Compasses in Charminster and Tom Brown’s in Dorchester were two of the well-deserved winners. The win reflects the hard work the teams put in to running their venues.

The Three Compasses received the Special Award for Supporting Original Artists and Tom Brown's was named Best Original Music Venue.

Rob Dixon, who runs The Three Compasses alongside wife Tina, said: “My family have had the pub since 1988, and we have had live music in there all the way through, so it’s been a very long time.

"Although you don’t need a pat on the back (for doing it), it is nice.”

He explained he hadn't planned on taking over the pub from his family but his dad - who used to work in the music industry, at Pye Records, - suffered a stroke and his mum was struggling, so he stepped in. 

Despite never planning on taking over the pub, Rob loves what he does.

“It’s the tiniest little pub you have ever been in and we are super fond of the musicians.

“The music side of things is fabulous – seeing young people coming on through and if we can be a part of that, it’s brilliant.”

When asked who some of his favourite musicians to play in the pub were, Rob said: “(Boogie woogie pianist) Ben Waters, he’s a very humble guy, I think Ben was 14 when he first played in ours.

“We have had Robbie McIntosh in there who has played with Wings and the Pretenders, Tom Jones.”

Meanwhile, Tom Brown’s was up against the Cerne Abbas Brewery and Chaplin's in Boscombe for the Best Original Music Venue accolade.

Landlady Katy Jones said of their brilliant win: “We are chuffed to bits. We work really hard to provide live and original music in the pub. We are a really small pub in Dorchester and are renowned for having some quality live music.”

She described the feeling of winning as ‘brilliant,’ adding: "You go into these things and you really don’t expect you’re going to win because Cerne Abbas Brewery and Chaplin's are brilliant venues – we were really surprised.

"Thank you to all the musicians that play in our pub."