London: The Butchers Arms, a small pub near Gloucester in southwest England that serves up pan-fried hake and squab along with pints of beer, has been named the Michelin Pub of the Year 2016, the travel guide publisher announced on Friday.

The pub, which earned a Michelin star in 2011, won the coveted award from a selection of 600 pubs in Britain and Ireland, Michelin said in a statement.

Located in Eldersfield, about 10 miles (16 km) north of Gloucester, in a 16th-century red-brick building, the small pub with space for about 25 people is run by James and Elizabeth Winter, the guide said.

"When they started out, owners James and Elizabeth's aim was to open a 'real' country pub: a laid-back home-from-home where the locals could come to meet after work and have a good meal -- and despite their runaway culinary success, that's exactly the way it has stayed," Rebecca Burr, the guide's editor, said.

The statement said that James Winter, whose mother was French, developed an interest in natural produce and cooking while on family holidays to France in his youth. It said his cooking has "continued to go from strength to strength".