Reaching for a cuppa was all in a day's work for a Kingston University illustration and animation graduate who has won a BBC award for her film about tea.

Lucy Izzard, 22, won the BBC's New Animator Awards for her two-minute 30 seconds-long film, Tea Total.

She visited numerous tea rooms while making the film as part of her final year course work. Buying herself a "cup of cha" and a cake, she would start chatting to customers about the merits of tea-drinking.

The film, in which animated characters discuss the merits of a refreshing cuppa, saw off competition from hundreds of other entries and was commended for its warmth and wit.

Lucy said: "Although it is generally thought that the British are reserved, the people I came across were happy to talk to me about the importance of tea in their lives.

"For some, tea was clearly their favourite subject. I really wanted to make sure that all the voices in my film were genuine because I wanted the slightly eccentric side of British life to come across."

Australian-born Lucy added: "Since I moved to England as a young child, it seemed that everyone was obsessed with tea.

"I discovered that tea-drinking involves little rituals and ceremonies in daily life, which I found really amusing. Funnily enough, I didn't even drink tea until I started visiting tea rooms for my research, but I'm definitely a convert now."

BBC Three is now commissioning Lucy to make a series of short animated films about other slices of British culture such as politeness and queuing.

She added: "It's really hard climbing the ladder in the world of animation, so winning the award has been an absolutely brilliant boost for my career."

Lucy's former tutor, senior lecturer Jake Abrams, said: "It's a tale of true Englishness with Lucy's quirky and imaginative style shining through.

"Kingston is proud of its record of producing graduates who go on to work in key creative roles in the broadcasting industry."

Tea Total has also been shortlisted for the prestigious British Animation Awards, with recent Kingston animation graduates James Kirkham and James Sandifer also vying for top honours.