An avid Preston pub goer has been trying to settle one of the big questions in the city, where is the best boozer?

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Danny Gillingham launched the Preston Pub Cup on Twitter on Monday March 30.

Tens of thousands of votes later and two of the city’s finest drinking establishments are preparing to go head-to-head to be crowned the top watering hole.

The 27-year-old, known as Danny Big G to his friends, came up with a shortlist of 32 pubs to enter into a knockout competition.

Each pub went up against another in a Twitter vote with the loser knocked out and the winning pub progressing to the next round.

Danny runs the votes from his Twitter feed and voters have 24-hours to register their favourite place.

Danny said: “So we all know that things are far from normal at the moment, impacting people’s lives in many ways. One thing from a personal view was the closure of pubs.

“As an avid Preston pub goer, I felt like I wanted to do my bit to raise awareness of some of the great pubs we have in Preston, but also just to have a bit of fun to help people pass the time whilst in lockdown.

“It all started as a bit of a laugh, but the public have really taken to the competition. We’ve been averaging over 500 votes per game and we’ve had close to 15,000 votes so far. The Preston people really do love their pubs.”

The semi-finals saw The Continental beat Twelve Tellers, by a considerable margin, and set up a final against arch-rivals The Moorbrook who saw off relative newcomers The Northern Way.

The final between The Conti and the Moorbrook kicked off during Wednesday (April 8) evening.

With the popularity of the virtual contest Danny said he’s now looking to use the interest he’s gathered to raise money for the NHS.

He has designed an official Preston Pub Cup t-shirt and it can be customised to have a pub name on the back.

Profits from the shirts, which cost £15 plain, and £17 with a favourite city pub on the back, go to the NHS Charities.

Danny said: “Please, please stay at home, but keep on supping pints. All we have to do is sit on our sofa, voting for who is better out of The Sun Hotel and The Wheatsheaf. No comparison to what the NHS are doing.”

Here’s how the Preston Pub Cup unfolded (tap to see it larger)

Read more: New Underground-style map of Preston’s pubs

The Preston Pub Cup final takes place from 8pm on Wednesday April 8 on Danny’s Twitter account.

Orders for the t-shirts can be placed by messaging Danny on Twitter.

Read more: Every pub in Preston listed – now you rank them

Have you voted in the Preston Pub Cup? Who do you think will win? Let us know in the comments below