LONGPARISH chef James Durrant of The Plough Inn has been chosen as the UK’s leading gastropub chef in the ‘Budweiser Budvar Top 50 Gastropubs’ award.

A panel of judges including leading pub guide editors and food writers voted for Mr Durrant to take the award.

Rob Willock, editor of The Morning Advertiser, the publication for publicans, said: “James is an outstanding chef and richly deserves to be voted the best in the UK.

“His food is of the highest standard and is a major reason why The Plough Inn is so popular.”

Mrs Durrant has been the chef proprietor at The Plough Inn since March 2012.

His signature dish is beer-battered fish with triple-cooked chips, mushy peas and tartar sauce.