CREATIVE Pia Khan has seen off tough competition to become one of five winners of a prestigious BBC writing contest.

The nationwide competition was launched last autumn for budding writers to produce a short story based on one of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

Miss Khan, 26, of Lea Bridge Road, Walthamstow, said she was inspired to write her story, The Heathen's Tale, based on Chaucer's The Sea Captain's Tale, after she went to a writing workshop.

The story follows the life of Ash, who has one year to achieve his aim of having everything he wants by the age of 40. But the one piece of the jigsaw that has not fallen into place is his unmarried sister.

Finding a husband for her, Laila, is a harder job than he had anticipated.

She said: "What I found most interesting in The Sea Captain's Tale was that it represented the kind of Asians who aren't normally written about by Asian writers.

"I wanted to get a fresh perspective on the old Asian storylines."

Miss Khan admits that her story was her first attempt at serious writing but a recent eight-month trip to Pakistan, where she stayed with family, helped to get the creative juices flowing.

"When I am in Britain I feel very Asian but when I went to Pakistan I realised that I am very British. I suppose my story is about how different cultures view each other," she said.

The 26-year-old, who attended Sir George Monoux College in Chingford Road, Walthamstow, is also a trained actress and performs under her stage name, Rose Bruford, as a tribute to the Rose Bruford College, where she studied acting.

Miss Khan has a masters degree in film studies from University College, London.

The five winning stories will be heard on Radio 4 in the week Monday, February 2, to Friday, February 6.

Miss Khan's story will be read by actress Indira Varma, who played the lead in the BBC's adaptation of The Sea Captain's Tale.