A CIVIL servant who has never had any work published could win the Costa Short Story Award with a tale about a walk ending in John O’Groats.

The shortlist for the award was judged anonymously, without the names of the authors being known.

Civil servant Chris Hunter, 32, from London, is shortlisted for When The Bell Tolls, an unpublished, diarised account of a walk he and two friends made from Land’s End to John O’Groats.

Luan Goldie, a primary school teacher, is also shortlisted for her story Two Steak Bakes And Two Chelsea Buns.

The ex-business journalist, who lives in London, has penned several short stories and recently completed her first novel.

Prize-winning Scottish writer Frances Ainslie completes the list of finalists for The Dying Time.

The award is run in association with the Costa Book Awards but judged independently.

The prize is open to published and unpublished writers for a single, previously unpublished short story written in English.

The winner, decided through a public vote, will be revealed on January 30.