IT’S official - Bournemouth is home to the best beer garden in Britain.

Chaplin’s and the Cellar Bar in Christchurch Road, Boscombe, has fought off competition from hundreds of entrants to be crowned the winner of Britain’s Best Beer Garden 2016.

The bar’s three-level garden is a huge hit with locals who can order drinks from a real ale garden shed while marvelling at the 15ft stained glass mystical archway, a giant ivy-bearded druid mural and a knight in a full suit of armour.

The pub’s colourful garden, which also boasts its Hanging Gardens of Boscombe, has been evolving for the past 10 years and features bright garden chairs and reclaimed cinema seats.

Singers, musicians and DJs often perform in the beer garden which also includes a fish pond and a barbecue.

Charlie Chaplin murals are strewn around the beer garden – with the bowler-hatted actor and funnyman even appearing in stained glass panels in the 15ft-tall archway.

Chaplin’s was chosen as the winner after a vote by members of the public as well as industry experts at the trade journal The Morning Advertiser, the British Beer and Pub Association, and Two Thirsty Gardeners blog.

The judges compared the beer garden to being “like the set of a David Lynch film” – given its weird and wonderful murals and decorations.

Owner Harry Seccombe said he was thrilled to be named the number one beer garden in the country.

“Our beer garden is the heart of our pub,” he said.

“We have worked really hard over the last 10 years to create something unique - but also somewhere people want to come and spend their afternoons and evenings.

“The garden is really well-loved in the community and a unique part of the Boscombe community. It’s fantastic and we are really proud.”

In addition to being crowned Britain’s Best Beer Garden 2016, Chaplin’s will receive a professional photo shoot of their pub garden, a commemorative plaque to mark their achievement and £500 to treat their bar staff.

Jonathan Webber, commercial director of SME Insurance, which organised the competition, said: “We would like to raise a glass to Chaplin’s for wowing our judges with what is a truly eye-catching beer garden.”