A TYNEDALE pub has been singled out as the best watering hole in the county at the National Pub and Bar Awards 2018.

The Rat Inn, Anick, is among 94 winners from counties across the UK which have been selected, based on overall best practice, after being assessed in a number of categories.

It joins The South Causey Inn as Durham’s winner and The Botanist in Newcastle, which took the title for Tyne and Wear.

The winning county pubs will be officially crowned at a red carpet celebration in London on Wednesday, May 23, where the top 15 regional winners – and the overall National Pub and Bar of the Year – will be announced.

“This positive, industry-boosting news comes at a time when closures of pubs and bars are too often focused on in the press,” said Tristan O’Hana, editor of Pub & Bar magazine, which runs the awards.

“The sole purpose of the national pub and bar awards is to tell as many people as possible about the incredible businesses that these county winners are running.”