AN historic hostelry in Biggar has been named as the Lanarkshire pub of the year.

The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) judges pubs up and down the country.

And they recognise the best from each region.

Each pub is scored on atmosphere, decor, customer service, value for money, clientele mix, and most importantly, the quality of the real ale served. 

And following recent deliberations it was the Crown Inn who were deemed the best in Lanarkshire.

Gary Watkins, licensee of the Crown Inn, told the Peeblesshire News: "We are really proud of this achievement.

"We have been working hard to engage with our customers, improving all facets of the pub and it is great to be able to celebrate this success with the team and our customers.

"I would like to thank everyone who helped make this possible. Going forward we have a massive refurbishment and refit planned in the near future to further enhance our valued customers experience in Biggar.”

A total of 12 members of CAMRA arrived at the Crown on Saturday for the presentation to Gary and his staff .

A spokesman for CAMRA told us: "We were greeted by a very happy owner, Gary Watkins, three excellent real ales on tap and the smell of a lovely curry being cooked up for us.

"Gary told the gathered crowd that he was planning to increase the number of real ales available to six - up from one when he first took over - next year."