THE Crown in Horsell has once again been declared the best pub in Surrey by the Campaign for Real Ale.

The pub also won the award, presented by the CAMRA Surrey Hampshire Borders Branch, in 2019.

It is now entered for the National Pub of The Year award.

Antoinette Harvey, who next month will have been landlady of The Crown for 25 years, runs the pub with her partner John Mintram.

John is behind Thurstons Brewery, which is based next door to The Crown.

“We’re delighted with the award because it really sums up what we are,” John said. “We’re a village pub, selling good beer to great customers.

“We’ve no wish to be anything else, we wouldn’t want to go down the gastropub route, for instance.

“And we have fantastic staff who deliver great service.

“Thurstons is our unique selling point, brewing beer here, and we have three of its beers on at all times. We could have more, and sometimes do, but we prefer to have a wider range and give people more choice.”

The award led an impressive performance by local pubs and clubs.

Runner-up was The Horse and Groom micropub, run by Rob Belcher and his wife Andrea, in Chobham’s High Street, and the branch’s club of the year was Woking Railway Club in Goldsworth Road.