TWO Ribble Valley pubs have been named as finalists in the prestigious Visit England Awards for Excellence 2015.

The glittering awards ceremony is being held on Monday, May 11, at the Sage Centre in Gateshead.

The Parkers Arms in Bolton by Bowland won the Taste of England Award at the Lancashire Tourism Awards last year and the Freemasons at Wiswell won the Tourism Pub of the Year Award.

The VisitEngland Awards attracted a total of 345 applications and the two finalists will have to wait until the awards ceremony to find out which award they will receive.

All finalists are guaranteed to receive either a gold, silver, bronze or highly commended award.

In 2014, Lancashire's national winners included The Parkers Arms which won a silver in the Taste of England category.

A spokesman for the pub said: "We are delighted that we have been named as a finalist for the second year in a row.

"We are keeping the Lancashire flag flying and we are keeping our fingers crossed for the awards ceremony.

"This is excellent news for us as a business and we can't wait to find out where we will place this year."

Steven Smith, the chef proprietor at The Freemasons at Wiswell, said: "I'm looking forward to the event and and I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

"I believe that we stand head and shoulders above everyone else in the category but it's ultimately down to the judges."

Ruth Connor, chief executive of Marketing Lancashire, said: “Individually, they are at the top of their game but importantly for Lancashire they are ambassadors for the county ‘where life feels good’; where some of the best events, best food and drink and best attractions combine to attract over 63 million visitors a year.

"They have our most sincere congratulations on their great achievement to date and our very best wishes and support, as they continue on their journey towards gold in Gateshead.”

James Berresford, chief executive of VisitEngland, said: “It’s been another successful year for our Excellence Awards as we’ve received hundreds of applications of an extremely high standard.

"That’s why all the finalists should be incredibly proud that they’ve been short-listed against such tough competition.

"I’d like to congratulate all the finalists who now represent the top five in their category in England and wish them all the very best of luck on awards night at the Sage Centre in Gateshead - a spectacular venue to celebrate the industry’s best.”