The Times political cartoonist Peter Brookes’ masterful interpretation of the iconic image of the year has landed him a top gong.

Multi-award winner Brookes, 72, won the Political Cartoon of the Year 2015 accolade for his compelling depiction of drowned three-year-old Syrian refugee Aylan Kurdi lying face-down on a Turkish beach as an EU lifebuoy drops in too late.

His thought-provoking cartoon in early September came top in a public vote and Brookes received the award at the Ellwood Atfield Gallery in Westminster on Tuesday night.

Brookes told News.co.uk:

I was terribly pleased to win, but on the back of such sad circumstances.

The pictures were so shocking, so strong that it became iconic. But you are doing it to take the position forward, to further the comment side of it.

I did feel angry at how things were going. I wanted to show just how pathetic the response from Europe was to the migrant crisis. Throwing a lifebuoy too late seemed to sum it up.