Alternative rock quintet Elbow were awarded the prestigious Mercury Prize on Tuesday for their latest album 'The Seldom Seen Kid'.

They beat out 11 other nominees to take the £20 000 award, which is for a British or Irish album of any genre released in the year to July.

"I know we're supposed to be cool but this is quite literally the best thing that has ever happened to us," the band's frontman Guy Garvey said as they collected the prize.

The other entrants for the award were Radiohead, Estelle, British Sea Power, Last Shadow Puppets, Adele, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Rachel Unthank and the Winterset, Portico Quartet, Laura Marling, Burial and Neon Neon.

Previous winners of the Mercury Prize, set up in 1992, have included Dizzee Rascal, Arctic Monkeys, the Klaxons, Primal Scream, Ms Dynamite, and Franz Ferdinand.

AFP