Congratulations to the team at the Cricketers Arms on being named the nation’s best pub.

It’s an outstanding triumph and brilliant story: from a boarded up back street pub in 2013, to the Campaign for Real Ale’s national pub of the year.

Plenty have lamented the loss of community pubs over the past decade – and you only have to look across the borough at the amount that have either been bulldozed or turned into flats and offices.

But Andy and Denise Evans have shown that with skill, commitment and energy – and by acknowledging what customers want – that there is still a place for a bustling local pub, where people enjoy a few pints and a chat.

We are not always great at celebrating our achievements in St Helens and no doubt there will be some shrugging of shoulders from cynics.

But there are wider benefits here for St Helens. As news of the award was released on Wednesday there were extensive features in the Guardian and Telegraph newspapers.

More coverage was set to follow once a press call was held yesterday afternoon. We should embrace this good news.

Real ale is a booming trade these days and the CAMRA crown should bring more visitors to St Helens.

If the town’s tourism leaders are smart they could look to capitalise on this success – and the strong local network of real ale pubs that already exists – by carving out a marketing strategy that pulls in real ale lovers from across the country.

- Neighbours living in Haydock will understandably feel shocked and frightened after a man was gunned down in broad daylight on Monday.

Gun crime is rare in St Helens, but one incident – which has all the hallmarks of some kind of criminal feud – is one too many.

They are the type of attacks where a bystander could easily be caught in the crossfire.

Let’s hope that the increase patrols that police chiefs have put in place in light of the shooting do reassure the community and give people the confidence to come forward with information, however innocuous the detail may seem.