A CHEF has collected a national prize for his past year’s work at a pub.

Head chef and co-owner of the Brown Horse Inn, Shaun Edmondson, was shortlisted by the ‘Pub 2020’ traders’ show, which also includes an awards ceremony.

Now he has clinched first prize in the ‘Best Pub Chef’ category.

Not only this, Mr Edmondson was the only chef from the North West who even featured in the shortlist.

Days after accepting the award, he said: “I was quite nervous at the awards ceremony itself. There were a lot of people there.

“But it was an amazing feeling when they read my name out.

“This will really help push the business one step further, hopefully. I’m really hoping it helps put the Brown Horse on the map.”

Mr Edmondson puts the awards success down partly to the abundance of fresh produce available on his doorstep.

The Brown Horse Inn, at Winster, has since been nominated for two other prizes - the North-West Family Business Award and another family business award from the Federation of Small Businesses.

“We pride ourselves on locally-sourced fresh stuff,” he said. “We have our own herb garden, which helps ensure this.

“And if you take our steak and kidney pie, for instance, all of our main ingredients come from the South Lakes.

“We got to Cornvale Butcher’s near Gawthwaite for most of the meat we use, and we Lakes Speciality in Staveley for a lot of the rest. We use McClure's in Windermere as our main vegetable supplier as well.”

Mr Edmondson runs the Brown Horse Inn along with his brother, Craig, who works as the Inn’s general manager.

Last year, the pair took over the business from their father, almost 15 years after he first bought the pub. They renovated the premises as well as overhauling the Brown Horse’s kitchen.

Craig Edmondson said: “Obviously, it’s not just Shaun who deserves the plaudits here. There are two other sous-chefs, Joe Daly and David Crabtree, as well as a number of other part-time chefs we rely on who have been at the centre of the latest chapter for the pub. We’ve placed a much greater focus on what’s going in and coming out of the kitchen, which has really paid dividends. We hope it will help set us apart from our competitors in the area. It’s great that in just a year we’ve managed to gain this kind of recognition.”