The winners of the 'Curry Oscars' have been announced at a star-studded event in central London.

Brighton restaurant Chilli Pickle bagged the top gong of the night for best innovation.

The awards have come at a time when concerns over new immigration caps have arisen.

An announcement on the cap - replacing an interim limit on non-EU immigration already in place - is expected within the next few weeks.

The issue has caused friction within the coalition, with Business Secretary Vince Cable expressing concern about the ability of firms to bring highly-skilled employees to the UK.

Speaking at the British Curry Awards on Sunday night employment minister Chris Grayling MP said: "The curry industry has argued for a long time that it needs to bring chefs from elsewhere and I don't think it's our intention as a result of the new immigration caps to put an absolute lid on highly skilled people coming to the UK.

There is a the argument that Britain already has plenty of untapped homegrown talent.

Mr Grayling added: "I think my message to the curry industry has always been for a large number of unemployed young people from the Bangladeshi community in the UK and I think the real focus should be on trying to train them to get them into what is a highly successful industry

Chef and Presenter Heston Blumenthal said: "I think the biggest thing of all though for me is that we now have British curry and that is unique in the world. It's not a poor relation of what you get in India, it is it's own identity and we are now influencing restaurants in India."

The annual British Curry Awards has been recognising excellence in the industry since 2005 and this year's competition attracted a record 67,000 public nominations.

List of winners

Most Innovative Restaurant - Chilli Pickle, Brighton

Best Newcomer - Mem Saab, Leicester

Scotland - Ashoka, Johnstone

North East - Spice Cube, Newcastle, North East

North West - Millenium Saagar, Isle of Man

Midlands - Lasan, Birmingham

South West - Rajpoot, Bath

South East - Aziz, Oxford

Wales - Bengal Dynasty, Shotton, Flintshire

London suburbs - Brilliant, Southall

Central London - Bombay Brasserie, Wimbledon