AMERICAN author Abigail Reynolds has handed over a cheque for £6,000 to the chairman of trustees at the Jane Austen House Museum in Chawton.

This "amazing" sum presented to Martyn Dell represents royalty fees earned by an homage written to Jane Austen by a group of Austen-inspired authors, led by Ms Reynolds and including fellow authors Susan Mason-Milks, Cassandra Grafton, Maria Grace, Monica Fairview, and Jane Odiwe.

For full story, see this week's Alton Herald.