Drinkers in East Devon have voted an Axminster pub as the best place to find quality beer.

Regulars and staff at the Axminster Inn were toasting success after receiving a special award from the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).

The honour is in recognition of the quality of the pub's beers, as voted for by CAMRA members over the past 12 months.

Run by Gary Needs and his wife Karen, who have been at the Silver Street pub for seven years, the pub is owned by Palmers Brewery and has consistently scored 100% from Cask Marque and been awarded the Palmers Brewery Master Cellar award on no less than five occasions.

Members of the Exeter and East Devon CAMRA branch visited the pub recently to present Gary and Karen with their certificate for this achievement, where they were greeted with five Palmers ales all served in top condition.

On receipt of the certificate, landlord Gary said that the award was not just for him and Karen, but for all their staff and the hard work they put in.

As spokesperson for the branch said: “We are absolutely delighted to be able to give the Axminster Inn this award.

"It is a tribute to everyone at the pub for their hard work in making this such a great pub – congratulations."

The National Beer Scoring System, which saw the Axminster awarded, enables CAMRA members to quality score beer any time they visit a pub anywhere in the country.

The scores for the Axminster have shown landlord Gary and his team have proved to consistently serve the best pint of real ale out of all the 600 or so pubs in the Exeter and East Devon branch area.