A HELMSLEY pub, which was taken over six months ago, has been be named the top hotel on a leading travel website.

Mick and Gail Suggett took over the Royal Oak pub and hotel in December and have refurbished the hotel's bedrooms and bathrooms.

The couple’s son Robert, who is also the bar manager, helped to put together a new website and logo for the hotel before putting it on the Trip Advisor for guests to review.

Mick said: “Robert set up the website and a new logo to put us on Trip Advisor and we were number 16 out of 16 when we first went online. Now we are number one.

“I think we have come a really long way in such a short space of time and we are really pleased.”

The business is now ranked as the number one hotel on the website, which allows visitors to write reviews and give the hotel a ranking for other, potential customers to view and ask questions before booking their stay. They can also book to stay at the Royal Oak online, a new addition over the past six months.

Mick, a former Yorkshire Water employee and his wife, a former teacher, owned a drinking pub in Catterick Garrison, but left the industry in 2004.

Mick said that they are pleased to be back working in the hospitality industry and were thrilled to receive their Trip Advisor certificate of excellence.

He said: “This is something we wanted to get back in to and we wanted to have lettings as well. We are really pleased with the certificate and there will be plenty of exciting things happening in the future.”