Bradford wipes the floor with Leeds when it comes to real ale pubs, says the latest edition of the beer lovers' bible.

The news is revealed in The Real Ale Pub Guide 2000, which lists seven pubs serving top quality beer in Bradford compared to just four in the larger city of Leeds.

Only Sheffield has as many quality real ale outlets as Bradford in the whole of Yorkshire.

And that's not the only success story in the district - Keighley also merits a special mention because it has two breweries recommended for the quality of real ale they produce.

Timothy Taylors' brewery in Ingrow, Keighley, had its Landlord ale named yet again as one of the top beers in Britain, while Goose Eye brewery, a father and son operation also based in Ingrow, is recommended as one of Yorkshire's top breweries.

Graham Titcombe, the author of the guide, and a former Cellarman of the Year, said: "Bradford and Yorkshire in general produce absolutely great ales.

"You go to some places around Britain and it's really hard to find proper cask-conditioned ales but there's no such problems in Bradford."

Mr Titcombe, who says he has tried every ale recommended in his guide, believes that Bradford could be doing better than its West Yorkshire rival because of the stranglehold nationwide brewery chains have over big cities like Leeds.

Jack Atkinson, proprietor at Goose Eye, said: "Bradford's better for real ale because there's a lot more free houses than in Leeds."

The Corn Dolly, on Bolton Road, won the CAMRA Bradford Pub of the Year in 1993 and 1994 and has again been recommended by the guide.

Landlord Peter Dunkin, whose establishment is due to become Bradford Pub of the Season in January, has pursued a policy of selling real ale since he took over in 1991.

He sells eight real ales at a time and gets through as many as 900 guest beers a year.

Mr Dunkin said: "It's not bad at all for real ale around here. It's certainly a lot better than some towns."

Kevin Guster, landlord at the Beehive Inn, on Halifax Road was delighted to be recommended by CAMRA. He said: "My pub's only a small local so I'm really very pleased."

Mr Titcombe added: "There's some great ales produced by national breweries but we shouldn't forget locally produced ales like the great ones produced in your area.

"It's nice to see such quality ale being produced and I think that the brewers of these ales deserve your support."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.