For the second year running Blackpool’s Highfield retains its pub crown

The Highfield on Highfield Road, South Shore was presented with the trophy after The Gazette ran a competition to find the town’s favourite place to go for a drink.

And it is the second year running that the popular South Shore pub has won the award.

Manager Sean Lithgow said everyone at the pub was delighted to have retained the crown.

He said: “Let’s hope we can win again next year and make it a hat-trick. We are really pleased to have won and I want to thank everyone who voted for us.

“The staff and customers are great. I have been here nine years and it is a really neighbourly area.

“The refurbishment three weeks ago has been great. We have had a complete makeover and hopefully people will like it. The bar area has been redone and the snug has been changed so it is great for watching sport.

“The pub has a good reputation for food, we hold quiz nights, and we raise a lot of money for charity.

“We try to make the pub a real centre for the community, which is what a local should be.”

In June the pub and its regulars contributed £2,400 to Cancer Research UK, the charity which parent group Sizzling , Mitchells and Butlers, was supporting this year.

The Best Bar competition was launched for the first time in 2013 with readers invited to vote for their favourite hostelries from throughout the town.

After announcing a short-list of 10 contenders in November, it went to a public poll.

And the Highfield emerged the winner after attracting the most votes from our readers.