A writer and former Kent university student has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Kazuo Ishiguro, who was born in Nagasaki, Japan, studied for a bachelor's degree in Arts, English and Philosophy in 1978 at the University of Kent.

Ishiguro, who picked up the award today, is the 110th person to be decorated with the honour.

He has penned novels which include The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go, which were both adapted for film.

His family moved from Japan to Surrey in the 1960s so his father could begin research at the National Institute of Oceanography.

The 62-year-old was praised as someone "who, in novels of great emotional force, has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world".

Head of the School of English, Professor Wendy Parkins, said: "We are delighted to hear that former Kent student Kazuo Ishiguro has received the Nobel Prize for Literature and the University offers its warmest congratulations on his success.

"He is one of those rare writers whose work engages both our thoughts and emotions in a beguiling way."

Dr Graeme Forbes, Lecturer in Philosophy at the University, said: "We couldn’t be prouder of our alumni, and we feel honoured to have Kazuo Ishiguro among them.

"People not familiar with philosophy sometimes ask ‘what can you do with that?’. His novels provide a compelling answer to this question: you can make us laugh, make us cry, and make us reflect deeply on the world around us, sometimes all at once.

"His Nobel Prize is a recognition of how valuable a thing that is to do with philosophy, and how well he has done it."