A former pupil of a top Oxford school has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his contribution to cancer research.

Dr Tim Hunt, a former pupil of Magdalen College School, in Iffley Road, won the prestigious award for his work into how cells divide - a development which has opened the way to new treatments for the disease.

Dr Hunt, who lives in Hertfordshire, is head of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund's cell cycle control laboratory.

Dr Hunt, who left the school in 1961 before going to Cambridge University, announced the news of the award at a school reunion.

As a Nobel Prize winner he also shares £680,000, along with two other scientists, including Sir Paul Nurse, director general of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund.

Dr Hunt made his discoveries during the 1980s, by studying the growth of sea urchin eggs.

The school prides itself on the quality of its science teaching and has recently invested £250,000 in new laboratories.

Deputy headteacher Richard Cairns said: "We're delighted. It's always a surprise to hear an old boy has won a Nobel prize, which is rare for the UK, let alone an Oxford school."

He added: "Science is a very strong subject at the school.

"Quite a few eminent scientists have gone into university science teaching from here."