THE Mill Race pub-restaurant at Walford has been awarded a 'Gold' in the Gourmet Herefordshire category of the prestigious Flavours of Herefordshire awards.

The award was open to establishments offering a high standard of cuisine, service and ambience.

The Flavours of Herefordshire Awards, now in its 14th year, celebrates the best of food and drink in the county. The aim is to encourage, recognise and award not only local restaurants, pubs, hotels, cafes and bed and breakfasts who used and promoted products from local suppliers/producers but also the producers themselves.

This year Jules Hudson, presenter of the BBC's Escape to the Country, who has recently moved to Herefordshire, revealed the winners at a special awards dinner held at Lyde Court.

To win the Gold award in the Gourmet Herefordshire category the Mill Race showed excellence in the presentation and flavour of food, excellent customer satisfaction, cleanliness and proved that the staff are well trained and aware of their Herefordshire provenance.

The Mill Race also prides itself on the fact its customers are made aware of where all their produce comes from and is committed to sourcing as much produce as possible locally.

Head chef Richard Kaye and assistant manager Sally-Ann Lawson were intrigued to find their individually crafted plaque had been made from the same oak timber used to make the The Hereford Bull – the replica Wye trow seen in the Jubilee Pageant.

The Mill Race has been open now for eight years under the management of Freeman Leisure which also owns and operates Bishopswood House as a wedding, conference and party venue.

Luke Freeman, joint managing director of Freeman Leisure, said: "We are thrilled to have been awarded this Gold Award. We are dedicated to supporting our home county and this award demonstrates that our high quality food has been recognised along with our ethos of sourcing everything as locally as possible."

Not only did the Mill Race come out top of the category judged on the whole establishment, they also took a silver award in the Simply Herefordshire category for the Brisket and Rack of Bishopswood Lamb with Herefordshire Cassis Jelly and Pea Puree' created by Richard Kaye.