Hari Kunzru said the Mail on Sunday "demonised" refugees

Mr Kunzru turned down the John Llewellyn Rhys award for his novel The Impressionist, objecting to the Mail on Sunday's backing for the prize.

He said its "hostility towards black and Asian people" was unacceptable and asked for the prize money to be donated to the Refugee Council charity.

Judges plan to select a new winner "as soon as possible", a spokesperson said.

Debut novel

The John Llewellyn Rhys award is presented annually to a writer aged under 35 for a work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry.

The second oldest literary prize in Britain, it was established in 1942 and has been sponsored by the Mail on Sunday for the past 15 years.

Hari Kunzru's debut novel beat four shortlisted books to the prize, but the 33-year-old did not attend the award ceremony at London's Reform Club on Thursday.

Instead Mr Kunzru issued a statement, read out during the event by his agent Jonny Geller.

As the child of an immigrant, I am only too aware of the poisonous effect of the Mail's editorial line Hari Kunzru

In it he claimed the Mail on Sunday and sister newspaper The Daily Mail "pursue an editorial policy of vilifying and demonising refugees and asylum-seekers".

The statement continued: "As the child of an immigrant, I am only too aware of the poisonous effect of the Mail's editorial line.

"The atmosphere of prejudice it fosters translates into violence, and I have no wish to profit from it."

He added that The Impressionist was "a novel about the absurdity of a world in which race is the main determinant of a person's identity".

New winner

Mr Kunzru has already won the Betty Trask and Somerset Maugham awards, and was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book and Whitbread prizes.

The Mail on Sunday declined to comment but confirmed it would give the prize money to the Refugee Council in accordance with Mr Kunzru's wishes.

Judges will reconvene to reconsider the shortlist with a view to announcing an alternative winner, with a second �5,000 prize.