ETHEL the Quaker Coffee House ghost just may have tipped the scales for the tiny freehouse in this year's CAMRA pub of the year competition.

For the second year running the pub, tucked away in Mechanics' Yard and owned by Mrs Christine Farnaby, has scooped the top prize for being the best town pub according to the Campaign for Real Ale.

Offering a superb range of cask ales supplied mainly by small breweries, the pub has added one of its own brews to the growing list.

Quaker Ghost Ale, the 3.8% abv, dry, slightly malty, golden ale, is proving a popular pint among regulars as well as with the growing band of discerning female beer drinkers.

Named after Ethel, the resident ghostly figure seen by Mrs Farnaby and other members of staff on several occasions, the beer has a slight cloudiness - which is just how Ethel appears to her Quaker Coffee House friends.

Mrs Farnaby told the D&S Times, she never believed in ghosts until the day she saw one for herself.

"The apparition of a black-gowned tiny woman has been floating around this place for a long time. The previous owners of the coffee house nicknamed her Ethel," she said.

"One night I was in the caf above the bar with a member of staff when it all went very cold and I started getting goosebumps.

"A woman in black drifted through the wall, crossed the room and went into the kitchen area. As soon as she went the room heated up again.

"It was very weird and very scary, but at least we both saw it."

Several other members of staff claim to have had similar experiences and strange things keep happening in the bar, especially around Christmas time.

"We have found light bulbs removed from their sockets and put on the floor, spare beer pump clips turned and stacked face down, and wine bottles taken out of wine racks in the cellar and placed on the floor," said Mrs Farnaby.

This is the second year running that the tiny bar has beaten four-times pub of the year winner Number Twenty-2, to the top slot.

The Coniscliffe Road bar's owner Mr Ralph Wilkinson, who has also taken The Crown at Manfield under his wing, has had to make do this year with being a very close runner-up.

The Country pub of the Year award went for the second time running to the Countryman at Bolam.

Run by Miss Mary Bowles and Mr David Clarke, the pub offers a fine menu and a host of real ales from local brewers.

Miss Bowles said: "We didn't expect to win the title two years in a row. It's really great. During the foot-and-mouth crisis we have kept the real ales on but just didn't have as many.

"A lot of walkers call in for the real ales and people travel to taste them but the locals are still a bit dubious over trying anything different."

The runner-up in the rural category was the Raby Hunt at Summerhouse, sadly now threatened with closure.