NOMINATIONS for the Gazette’s first pub of the year competition are coming in thick and fast.

There has been a fantastic response so far to our search for the best boozer in the Dursley, Thornbury and Yate areas with many of the region’s pubs being put forward for the prestigious title.

Customers have cited the fantastic food, friendly service and community spirit as reasons why their local should win. Children’s facilities and charity events are also popular grounds for nominations.

Winners will be named in all three of the Gazette’s edition areas and each winning landlord will be invited to spend a day in Westminster and serve their brewery’s beer at a bar inside the Houses of Parliament.

In South Gloucestershire we have teamed up with Thornbury and Yate MP Luke Hall.

Mr Hall said: “Pubs are the lifeblood of many of our local communities and this award is a great way of recognising and celebrating that.

“As a local man myself, I am a great supporter of our pubs and I very much look forward to welcoming the winners of the Pub of the Year competition to the House of Commons and having their local ale served in the bar in parliament.”

In Gloucestershire, Stroud MP Neil Carmichael is supporting the search for the best pub in the Dursley, Cam and Berkeley area.

He said: “Local pubs really matter to our communities and there are many very good pubs across the district.

“It will be a difficult task, but it is a fabulous opportunity for pubs to enter this excellent competition, which I have given me support.”

The deadline for nominations is August 31. Send details of your favourite pub in the Thornbury and Yate areas to reporter Alexandra Womack via sodbury@gazetteseries.co.uk or to nominate a pub in the Dursley area email stuart.rust@gazetteseries.co.uk

You can also post your nomination with a form which will be published in tomorrow's paper (July 30).

Watch this space for further details on the competition, which will involve a public vote.