Officials from the Brown Cow on Livesey Branch Road have just celebrated a year behind the bar and landlord John Meadows was delighted make your top six.

He said: “We feel very humbled but extremely pleased that the readers of the Lancashire Evening Telegraph have taken time out to vote for the Brown Cow.

“We would like to thank all of our customers for their continued support during these uncertain times, without them the Brown Cow wouldn’t be what is now, and would hope that with their continued support we can have an even better year in 2023.

“We reopened the pub on February 6 after a complete refurbishment by Craft Union, the year has flown by.

“The reason we got involved with the the Brown Cow was because we thought it had the potential to be a fantastic pub obviously it has the Rovers trade but in a town with a failing pub industry it just stood out, we lucky enough to see the application on Facebook 30 minutes before it closed.

“We have plans to extend the beer garden and we are trying to sort an outside outside bar out for this year.”

Tracy and John were born and bred in Blackburn, with John growing up on Ravenglass Close, and Tracy around Stansfield Street.

“Tracy used to be a manager at B&Q and she has worked in pubs before she also helped me run the Hare and Hounds at Lammack,” said John who also had the Quarryman’s and was part owner in the Manxman in the 1990s.

John has described about how the pub has changed since they took over.

“The layout of the pub changed slightly on re-opening and from the moment we opened our doors on that first Saturday we have tried to make the Brown Cow a fantastic welcoming community spirited public house, where everyone is welcome.

“You can come into the pub at anytime whether you are 18 or 118, male or female and you will always be made to feel welcome and safe and you will invariably find someone to talk to.

“On top of that we have live sports on TV, a number of quizzes, pool, darts, live acts, disco and karaoke. We think the most unique thing about our pub is the bond between us, our staff and all of our great customers.

“Our staff are fantastic, not only do they cope with busy Rovers match days which are manic, they walk our locals home and on many occasions they take the odd pint to them when they can’t get to the pub.

Readers were full of praise for how the owners had transformed the pub.

John said: “The best thing about our pub is the customers, they are brilliant and our most proud moment was being given the reins of this fantastic pub.”

John has also told us how he feels if they were to finish top of the pile

He said: “To be crowned pub of the year would be surreal, all we set out to do was have a pub that enhances the community.

“If we were lucky enough to win it would be a great boost to the pub and the area and would be a brilliant recognition of the staff who go above and beyond.”