When it comes to having a perfect cup of tea - people in Easingwold are spoiled for choice.

Two tea rooms run by Gerald and Judy Clark have been declared among the top 100 in Britain.

Their tea rooms in Easingwold Market Place and their caf in the town's Long Street have been included in a prestigious guide by the Tea Council.

They are among only ten North Yorkshire outlets included in the council's Guild of Tea Shops.

Clark's tea rooms in Market Place have been in the guide for three years, but this is the first time the caf at the firm's bakery and shop, in Long Street, has been included.

The tea rooms are picked by a team of testers from the Tea Council and winning outlets are invited to join the guild.

Mrs Clark said she was delighted with the double honour. Clark's has been in Easingwold for 70 years, firstly as a bakery then expanding to a caf and tea shop.

She said: "It is important. It seemed to do us a lot of good with the tea rooms when we were first asked to join. It means we have a reputation, because there are not that many in the guild. It puts us on a par with Bettys of York."

The other guild members in the county are: Bettys in Harrogate, York and Northallerton; Bullivant of Blake Street, York; Taylors, of Stonegate, York; The Mad Hatter Tea Shop, Masham, near Ripon; The Priest's House, Barden, near Skipton and the Crathorne Hall Hotel, Crathorne, near Yarm.

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