TODAY the Worcester News starts the search for the city’s most popular watering hole with the launch of the Pub of the Year award.

Voted for by the public, the aim is to find the most popular pub in Worcester whilst celebrating the many fantastic watering holes in our city.

The winning landlord will receive a Worcester News Pub of the Year 2018 trophy and be invited to the Houses of Parliament by the city’s MP Robin Walker.

Voting is open now and closes on November 30, so use the slip in today's newspaper to name your favourite pub and tell us why it deserves to win.

Anyone can vote, whether a member of staff or a loyal customer, but we will only accept slips cut out from the newspaper as votes, not photocopies, to avoid any ‘tactics’.

We’ll be profiling some of the city’s popular pubs and those put forward for the award in the newspaper and on our website every Tuesday over the next six weeks, until voting closes on November 30, and the voting slip will be published on the page each week.

The winner will be announced in the newspaper and on our website on Tuesday December 4.

MP for Worcester Mr Walker said: “Our local pubs play a crucial role in making Worcester a fantastic place to live, work and visit, and the Worcester News Pub of the Year competition is a great way of celebrating the wide variety on offer in the city.

“As a former Parliamentary Beer Champion and member of the All Party Save the Pub Group, I’ve campaigned over many years to get more pubs listed and protected, and have even held an advice surgery in a local pub.

“The competition this year will no doubt be hotly contested, with new establishments going up against old favourites, and I encourage everyone to get involved and support their local.”

Over the next few weeks, until voting closes, we will be profiling some of the pubs that have been put forward for the award to help our readers choose their favourite.

Worcester News editor Michael Purton said: “We came up with the Pub of the Year award because there are some brilliant pubs in the area and we want to highlight their hard work and high standards.

“In this era of cheap booze in supermarkets and developers eyeing up pubs to try to turn them into housing, it’s important we all do whatever we can to support our watering holes, because they are far more than just places to eat and drink – they are community centres at the heart of the local area.”

If you’d like your pub to be one of the watering holes featured in the newspaper and online over the next six weeks, email michael.purton@newsquest.co.uk