A VILLAGE pub ranked as the best restaurant in the Thirsk area after being taken on by new owners will host a party to celebrate.

Lucy Palliser, landlady of the Dog and Gun, Knayton, said the community and a range of businesses had united behind its fundraising evening of food and entertainment, including a professional cocktail barman, on Saturday, April 5, at 8pm.

The pub, which has retained its top placing on the Tripadvisor website for several months, will donate ten per cent of drink sales and prizes donated by local firms to MacMillan Cancer Care and Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Mrs Palliser said: "There has been a fantastic amount of interest in this event, which we hope will help two charities whose work affects the majority of people in the area."