IF you fancy a pint or two it appears there are not many places better than East Lancashire.

For a recent poll placed two pubs from the region in the top 20 of Britain's best boozers.

The national poll was conducted by the pub and restaurant trade magazine, The Morning Advertiser, and the Royal Oak at Hoghton came in eighth while the Three Fishes at Mitton, Whalley, came in 20th.

The poll was drawn up after 200 industry leaders from the pub and licensing trade were asked to nominate their favourite drinking establishments.

Eric Hargreaves, 58, who runs the Royal Oak with wife Trisha, 53, was delighted that the pub came so high up in the list.

He said: "This is absolutely fantastic news, just incredible. We came here 11 years ago and we've built it back to what it should be."

The pub is a Thwaites-owned business and the couple have been with the brewery for 30 years, having previously run the Higher Buck in Waddington for 17 years. Mr Hargreaves is originally from Burnley while his wife comes from Nelson.

The Three Fishes, co-owned by Nigel Howarth, has won many accolades since it was taken over and totally renovated by Ribble Valley Inns in September 2004.

Kay Matthew, of Ribble Valley Inns, said: "The Three Fishes is a predominantly food based pub. We try to source all our food on our menu from within a 30 mile radius of the pub and focus on serving traditional British classic dishes and Lancashire specialities.

"We serve all of this up with true Lancashire hospitality and we are delighted that the hard work of general manager Andy Morris and all his staff has been recognised."