The owner of a religious bookshop who claims to have sold more than 20,000 Bibles has been handed an award recognising his contribution to the Christian faith.

Andrew Franks, of Sunny Way, North Finchley, was given the long service award from the Christian Book Trade after decades of promoting the texts in his independent bookshops.

The businessman first set up his Cornerstone Christian Bookshop in Woodhouse Road, North Finchley, in 1981.

During 27 years of managing the business Mr Franks was an industry leader and became one of the first Christian bookshops to install a computerised stock control system – something he promoted at other bookshops across the UK.

From the early days of receiving orders with handwritten invoices, Mr Franks has spent the past 15 years specialising in buying and selling clearance titles from publishers of Christian books in the UK and USA.

For the past five years, he has operated the business from Epping and continues to sell the books through shops in the UK and Ireland and Christian conferences and exhibitions.