If you're in a town centre and hunting for some cheap pub grub, there's always one chain that hoovers up custom.

You guessed it: JD Wetherspoon. The boozer behemoth has become the place to go in recent years for reliable, cheap and quick meals.

However, in Accrington, I've found a pub that provides classic pub meals for a similar cost, yet with much more of a freshly-made feel than Spoons's microwaved delights.

The Black Horse Tavern, in Abbey Street, is in a great location within the town.

The area around Warner Street on the eastern edge of the centre isn't littered with empty units, and you could, in theory, start a huge pub crawl there heading up Manchester Road towards Baxenden.

Formerly a food emporium, the premises is now home to, what I think, is the best pub in the town.

The staff and customers are very friendly, there's a good selection of beers and real ale, it's got a great pool table with good quality cues, and, as I've recently found out - cooks up fantastic lunches.

In the pub on a Saturday afternoon watching the football scores come in, we decided to hold off from eating in Wetherspoons earlier in the day, to give the Black Horse a chance.

You can eat anywhere in the pub, there's no cordoned off dining-only area.

Looking at the menu, the beef suet pudding, with potato wedges, gravy and mushy peas for only £8.95 drew me in, despite some of the other items also looking promising.

It's a little pricier than Wetherspoons, but not by a whole lot.

Another plus for the Black Horse is its theming in connection with Accrington Stanley.

There's a shelf packed with old programmes for when you've had enough of playing pool, plus pictures and memorabilia on display all over the pub.

Within less than 15 minutes, my suet pudding arrived.

The pastry was the perfect texture, and easily broke away to reveal that, inside, it was packed with meat; there's no scrimping on portion size here.

I think, especially for the price, the number of wedges on the plate is also quite impressive.

And for those who don't like mushy peas, there's the option to leave them alone in their little pot - I am not inclined to do that however.

Washed down with a pint of Guinness - it's a really good pour there - and my local had further cemented its place as the best pub in town, in my opinion.

I think some other customers agreed - a few seem to be licking their lips once they saw how good my food looked.

You can find The Black Horse Tavern in Abbey Street, Accrington.