US singer-songwriter Bob Dylan has broken his silence to accept his Nobel Prize in literature.

He said the honour awarded to him earlier this month, had left him "speechless", the Nobel Foundation said in a statement.

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The Nobel Foundation said Dylan had called Sara Danius, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy, telling her: "The news about the Nobel Prize left me speechless. I appreciate the honour so much."

Asked if he accepted the prize, he replied: "Of course."

Although the statement said it was unclear if Dylan would attend the prize-giving banquet in Stockholm, the Daily Telegraph quoted him as saying: "Absolutely. If it's at all possible."

In an interview with the paper he described the prize as "amazing, incredible". "It's hard to believe. Whoever dreams about something like that?" he is reported to have said, BBC News reports.

The Blowin' In The Wind singer was awarded the accolade on 13 October but had not responded to the Swedish Academy, neither to acknowledge the honour nor to confirm whether he will collect the award on 10 December.

His initial failure to respond after the Swedish Academy made several attempts to contact the folk singer was dubbed "impolite and arrogant" by a member of the academy, which awards the Nobel prizes.

When he was announced as the recipient of the prestigious award he initially seemed to acknowledge to award, describing himself as "winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature" on his official website. However, in an apparent change of heart, the sentence was removed from the page shortly after.

The 75-year-old is the first musician to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature after being recognised for having created "new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition".

Dylan will now receive the eight million Swedish kronor (£740,000, €818,000) that comes with the Nobel Prize.