A BUSTLING Padiham pub has been honoured as one of East Lancashire’s best by beer lovers from across the area.

The Hare and Hounds in West Street was named the Burnley area pub of the year by members of the Campaign For Real Ale (CAMRA), after going from strength to strength since husband-and-wife team Stef and Laura Riley took over the reins in October 2012.

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The pair, both 37, celebrated their first 12 months behind the bar by holding Padiham’s first beer festival, and have hosted a number of successful events since.

The Rileys have also made a number of changes to the pub, installing a beer garden, and a new fire, and working with the nearby cricket club and football clubs, whose Arbories Memorial Grounds are at the rear of the pub, to attract business to the top of the town area.

Since taking over the pub, which was previously run by Punch Taverns, the couple have built up a strong customer base of regulars.

Mrs Riley said she and her husband were planning to host another beer festival in celebration when the Pub of the Year banner is presented to them next month.

She said: “We’re ecstatic. After all the hard work we’ve put in and changes we’ve made to the pub, to be recognised for that is just brilliant.

“The pub companies are crippling the pubs and, once the pubs are free of ties, they can make a go of it and can be busy again.

“We got told just after midnight on New Year.

“We told the whole pub and they all erupted cheering and bouncing. It went down really well.”

John Webster, chairman of East Lancashire CAMRA, said: “This is a pub that, for years and years, did nothing.

“They’ve done it up, spent a lot of money on it, and completely revitalised it.

“It is now a very, very popular establishment indeed.”