Ross Noble has won the most prestigious award in the Melbourne comedy festival.

The 25-year-old British comic has been named winner of the Barry award, Australia's equivalent of the Perrier prize.

The accolade, awarded to the most outstanding show of the international festival, is named in honour of Barry Humphries

Six other finalists fot the award were: Daniel Kitson, Chris Addison in Port Out, Starboard Home; Ridiculusmus Say Nothing, and shows called Proxy Heroes, The Trade and A Night At Fat Willy's

Noble's show, Slacker's Playtime, also won The Age critics' award at Melbourne.

Ross - who also won three Chortle awards earlier this year - will be back in the UK in June, when he will start preparing a new show for Edinburgh.

In the meantime, his travelogue Ross Noble Goes Global is currently being broadcast on Radio 4 on Tuesday nights.