REAL ale fans from across the region converged on a small village pub near York, to celebrate it being judged the best in all of Yorkshire by beer experts.

Crowds from York, Hull and elsewhere gathered at the Ferry Boat Inn at Thorganby, near Wheldrake, as it was presented with its Regional Pub Of The Year award from the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra).

Earlier this year, the little riverside watering hole saw off competition from across Yorkshire and Humberside, and Camra’s regional director, Mick Moss, presented the award on Sunday.

It is the third award this year for the pub, having been named Pub Of The Year by Camra’s York branch, and having also scooped the Best Outdoor Area title in The Press pub awards last spring.

The pub stands on the banks of the River Derwent and is renowned for its picturesque garden, impressive beer range and for its landlady Olive Rogers, who has run the pub for 62 years – latterly with day-to-day assistance from her daughter and son-in-law, Jackie and Phil Williamson.

Mrs Williamson said about 60 to 70 people turned out for Sunday’s ceremony. She said: “It’s a great honour to be judged as the best Camra pub in Yorkshire.”

Mr Williamson said until the recent snow, the title had brought many new customers to the pub.

He said: “There were a lot of people coming along who had seen the various articles about it, and other people had passed the word on – word of mouth is always good.

“It’s absolutely brilliant to get an award like that. All awards are good, but getting the Yorkshire award is great.”