The team behind the multi-award winning White Mare in Beckermet is heading back to the national finals of the prestigious Great British Pub Awards.

White Mare owner Dianne Irving was crowned best newcomer in Britain at the Great British Pub Awards 2016, as well as the White Mare being awarded best pub in Cumbria at the National Pub and Bar Awards.

The White Mare was one of only six national finalists in the Best Inn in Britain category of the Great British Pub Awards 2017.

Now Dianne’s new venture, The Crown Inn in Stanwix, has been shortlisted as a national finalist in the Great British Pub Awards 2018 for the best turnaround and best pub Garden in Britain.

The Great British Pub Awards is the most prestigious national pub and bar competition, referred to as “The Oscars of the Pub Industry”.

Sponsored by John Smith’s, this year’s awards ceremony will be held in The Royal Lancaster Hotel, Mayfair, London, on September 6, where the Crown will find out if it has been named as the national champions in the two categories.

Dianne said: “To have been shortlisted as a national finalist in two categories is beyond all our imaginations and we are extremely proud of this accolade.

"Since we re-opened the Crown in December, after a complete make-over, we have enjoyed fantastic support from our community in Stanwix and customers from all over Carlisle.

"It would be great to be named as a national champion in either category, but just to get to the last six is fantastic and we are very grateful to everyone who has supported us.

"We have had great success with national awards at the White Mare and we are delighted that we have been able to repeat this at the Crown.”

The Crown underwent a full scale, £350,000 makeover in November and has become a popular venue for drinks, food, sports and live entertainment.

In May, the beer garden underwent a full refurbishment, with an international graffiti artist painting a twenty five foot long mural depicting abstract symbols and history from Carlisle.

The beer garden features gas fire-pit tables and state of the art infra-red heaters for the colder months.