Members of the West Kent branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) cast their votes for the best pubs in a close contest with Tunbridge Wells publicans taking all the top spots.

Pubs were judged on the quality of their beer and cider at the forefront, but voters also took into account style, décor, furnishing, cleanliness, service, community focus, and atmosphere among other aspects.

Most of the judging was done when a crowd of members toured the nominated pubs to make their assessment - a tough job, but someone had to do it.

The George in Mount Ephraim was crowned the overall winner claiming Pub of the Year an having opened the pub only two years ago, manager Paul Fillis was delighted.

"It’s great, we have been really pleased, it's a great accolade to have achieved. We’re going into our third year now so it’s nice to have notoriety", said the 38-year-old.

The chef cum manager has also been trying his hand at brewing, working with a small one-barrel operation in the pub basement which produces around 140 points a week.

"It’s my first real foray into brewing but I have a cheffing background and they say chefs make good brewers as they start to make little tweaks to recipes", said the Tunbridge Wells resident.

The fruits of the microbrewery sit among the six hand pumps offering ales from far and wide and two for cider, with its latest offering to be a 3.8% pale to amber ale, Omicron.

Runners up for best pub were The Windmill in Windmill Road, Sevenoaks Weald, and Fuggles Beer Café in Grosvenor Road, Tunbridge Wells, both of which have been previous winners.

The Pantiles Tap in The Pantiles, Tunbridge Wells took Cider Pub of the Year for the third year running, which perhaps is little surprise with owner Geoff Wentworth's commitment to the fruity beverage.

The pub is always stocked with around 25 varieties, 16 of them from a wide range of producers displayed on the "great wall of cider."

"It’s the county of orchards and apples and people drink a lot of cider. The thing about Kent is that the people appreciate real cider so we source source them locally", said the 60-year-old who has 40 years experience in the business.

Finally, The Tunbridge Wells Constitutional Club in Sandrock Road won Club of the Year.

With its four hand pumps rotating different varieties of real ale roughly every fortnight, members are kept satisfied, along with regular evening entertainment and what one member said was "great community spirit."

Talking about the win, Trustee Chris Beames joked: "It feels the same as last year and the year before that and the year before that."

"It's excellent, it's nice to be recognised", he added.

Unfortunately for many pub-goers, the club is for members only.