THIS mesmerising image of starlings swirling around the West Pier has scooped the top prize in the Landscape Photographer of the Year awards.

The dramatic shot by Matthew Cattell, from Bracknell, Berkshire, which judges likened to the tornado in the Wizard of Oz, beat thousands of entries showcasing the UK landscape to win the overall title and £10,000.

The hypnotic shot shows thousands of the birds swooping and diving in the foreground with the haunting skeletal remains of the pier dominating the background.

Charlie Waite, landscape photographer and founder of the Take A View Landscape Photographer of the Year awards, said of the overall winner: "The sense of movement is palpable in Matthew's photograph and you really feel what it would have been like to stand beside him.

"The starlings seem to be swirling around the iconic remains of Brighton's West Pier in a manner reminiscent of the tornado in the Wizard of Oz.

"A judicious choice of shutter speed suits both birds and water. An intriguing image."

The awards were held in association with VisitBritain for the third year.

There were a number of categories including Young Landscape Photographer of the Year and The Sunday Times Magazine Award.

The latter was won by Rachael Talibart of Weybridge, Surrey, for her photo Maelstrom, which features on today's front page.

She captured Storm Imogen battering Newhaven in February.

The former city solicitor, who gave up her high-flying job to pursue her passion, travelled down to the Sussex coast when the storm was approaching.

She specialises in weather and sea shots having spent much of her childhood living on the coast.

Among the others winners included a photo of a windswept cottage in the Scottish Highlands, a dramatic shot of urban tower blocks being demolished and a railway viaduct forming the backdrop to a rocky landscape in the Yorkshire Dales.

An exhibition of winning entries will be held on the balcony at London Waterloo, from November 21.

All the winning entries and commended photographs will be published in a book, Landscape Photographer of the Year: Collection 10.

To see all the winners visit take-a-view.co.uk.