A Lyme Regis restaurant has this week been named the best in the South West in a prestigious food bible.

The Mill Tea and Dining Room at the Town Mill complex is the regional winner in this year’s Good Food Guide Restaurant of the Year Awards.

More than 27,500 diners nominated their favourite restaurants, pubs and cafés from around the UK and the judges have whittled the nominations down to name some of the best dining experiences the country has to offer. Owners Anthony McNamara, Eleanor Bursey and Ailsa Sargent were thrilled to receive the news on Monday morning.

Miss Bursey said: “We found out on Twitter, that’s where the Good Food Guide announced it first.

“We knew we had lots of lovely, loyal, local customers that had taken the time to write in for us but when we found out we were gobsmacked and thrilled.

“It’s nice to know that how hard you work pays off in the end. A huge thanks to our local customers.”

The Good Food Guide is the UK’s longest-running bestselling restaurant guide which is now in its 61st year.

To qualify for the awards, restaurants needed to be independently-run, offering regional or local produce where possible and delivering consistently great food and excellent service. The Mill Tea and Dining Room prides itself on using only local suppliers. “There are so many local suppliers around, it would be ridiculous to go anywhere else,” said Miss Bursey. “We use Trill Farm a lot and they are really fabulous for vegetables, fruit and salad. Anthony knows all the suppliers by first name.”

After opening in 2009, the restaurant was entered into the Good Food Guide within the first six months of trading.

Elizabeth Carter, consultant editor of the Good Food Guide, said: “With its wow factor setting matched by a team who put their heart and soul into the Mill, it is hard not to fall in love with this adorable riverside eatery. It is well worth a detour, with Anthony McNamara’s proud-to-be British food the icing on the cake.”

The restaurant, tucked under the stairs in the corner of the Town Mill Courtyard, is one of 10 regional winners from around the UK, who will compete to be named the overall Good Food Guide Restaurant of the Year.

The winner of this national award will be announced at a ceremony in London on June 23 and the Lyme Regis restaurant will be closed for the day so the owners can attend.

Miss Bursey said: “It would be spectacular if we did win but I daren’t hope. It doesn’t really matter to us, it’s just lovely to have got this far.”

All 10 regional winners will appear in the Good Food Guide 2012, published on September 8.