A RESTAURANT in rural County Durham has proved it can mix it with the best after being included in a prestigious list of the UK's top 100 eateries.

The Raby Hunt in the village of Summerhouse, near Darlington, was ranked 51st in Restaurant Magazine’s Top 100 - making it the 15th highest placed eatery outside London and the highest in the North East.

Owner and head chef James Close is delighted with the achievement and said: “It is one of those awards that even though it features 100 restaurants, it is still really, really hard to get in it.

“For us to get into it is brilliant; the awards are southern based and we are nowhere near London but must be doing something right!”

The Raby Hunt, which seats just 30 diners, was rated above scores of exclusive and prestigious restaurants, including Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck in Berkshire which came 94th and Harry's Shack, which took 86th place but was rated the 'Best Restaurant in Northern Ireland'.

London restaurants dominate the list but Mr Close, who has been at The Raby Hunt for six years and achieved his first Michelin Star there in 2012, says he prides himself on producing signature dishes without pretension.

He said: “We are doing something in the North East that no-one else is doing; a very relaxed style of dining and presenting fine foods our way; it isn’t about pretension.

“We are relaxed, people can wear what they want so we are not old-school in that sense and the food is very modern as well; it has a certain refinement.”

The Raby Hunt, which is a Grade II listed building and originally part of the Raby estate, has been an Inn since it was built in the early 1800's on the old drovers road to Northumberland and Scotland.

The list was topped by tapas bar Barrafina in London's Covent Garden, which also won best Spanish restaurant and scooped the Evening Standard's reader vote for the 'Best New London restaurant 2015'.