ONE of the Ribble Valley’s most prestigious and well-known restaurants has been awarded a top industry gong.

The Freemasons Arms at Wiswell has been named as the winner of the gold tourism pub of the year award at the annual Visit England Awards for Excellence.

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The Parkers Arms in Newton-in-Bowland was highly commended in the same category.

The glittering awards ceremony was staged at the Sage Centre in Gateshead and saw the Wiswell team pick up the award for the first time representing their 17 colleagues.

The Freemasons won the Tourism Pub of the Year Award at the Lancashire Tourism Awards last year.

The VisitEngland Awards attracted a total of 345 applications and the two finalists will have to wait until the awards ceremony to find out which award they will receive.

All finalists were guaranteed to receive either a gold, silver, bronze or highly commended award.

Steven Smith, the chef proprietor at The Freemasons at Wiswell, said: “This win makes me feel a great sense of pride in the team and the work that they do.

“It’s a real team effort here and it’s not just about one person.

“This award further confirms the good work that we have been doing but you are only as good as your last meal so we constantly have to keep up the high quality.

“It’s very nice to be recognised in this way and to be judged against the best from across the country.

“Everybody works very hard and puts in a lot of hours here to make it the best it can be.

“To have won the award for the first time as well is a nice moment for us.”

Visit England chairman, Lady Cobham, said: “The VisitEngland Awards for Excellence – this year hosted at the wonderful Sage Gateshead – celebrate the very best in English tourism.

“It is the highest accolade and recognises the true champions of our industry, as well as the top quality visitor experiences we are fortunate to have on offer in England.

“The competition is of an increasingly high standard and so I offer my sincere congratulations to all our winners on this tremendous achievement, particularly the gold award winners for their exemplary contribution to tourism in this country.”