A REPUTATION for fine food has won a pub near Faringdon a top award in the The Good Pub Guide.

The latest edition of the guide is published today and The Trout at Tadpole Bridge, Buckland Marsh, has won Oxfordshire’s County Dining Pub of the Year award.

Licensees Helen and Gareth Pugh took over the pub near Bampton in 2006 and this is the third time they have picked up a top award.

They won the same prize in 2008 and in 2010 were named by the Automobile Association as England’s Pub of the Year.

Mr and Mrs Pugh, who have two sons, Alexander, 15, and Charlie, 11, have 35 full and part-time staff to help them run the pub.

Mrs Pugh, 45, said they were thrilled to win the guide’s County Dining Pub of the Year award for the second time.

And she said the reputation of their French chef Pascal Clavaud had helped them to attract the prize.