Writers honour Coens' No Country

No Country For Old Men is a dark crime thriller set in Texas

No Country For Old Men and pregnancy drama Juno have won the main prizes at the Writers Guild of America awards.

The Coen brothers film won best adapted screenplay, while Juno's original script also triumphed - mirroring writer Diablo Cody's Bafta award.

The awards dinner in Los Angeles was cancelled as a result of the writers' strike, with the winners announced in a brief statement.

The Writers Guild's leaders voted to end the dispute at the weekend.

Mounting tally

In New York, the US east coast branch of the union held an informal reception to honour the winners.

Other writing award recepients included The Wire, which won best TV drama, 30 Rock for best TV comedy and documentary Taxi to the Dark Side.

The film, which was written by Alex Gibney, looks at the practice of torture in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The success of No Country For Old Men adds to the film's mounting awards tally, making it a front runner to win the best film category at the Academy Awards on 24 February.

The Coen brothers won the best director prize at the Baftas on Sunday, but British romantic drama Atonement was named best film.

The pair also lost out in the best adapted screenplay category to The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.