A COUPLE are just one pint away from having visited every pub in the UK named the Red Lion.

Kayleigh Snell, 30, and Paul Tyack, 31, both from Woodstock, Oxfordshire, made Cricklade’s award-winning inn one of their first stops.

They have so far spent two-and-a-half years, covered 20,500 miles and raised more than £1,800 for charity on their epic pub crawl.

When the mission ends on Friday they will be donating the money to Pulmonary Hypertension UK, a lung disease that Paul's seven-year-old niece Emily suffers from.

But they have received an invitation to return to the “pretty” Red Lion Inn at Cricklade, which was 44 on their list of more than 600 pubs.

The couple, who try and visit eight pubs a day, wrote on Facebook: “After a rather up and down day, things improved at Cricklade.

“They had their own brewery out the back, Hop Kettle, and served three different Hop Kettle ales.

“Back garden area was really pretty too.”

The quest started in September 2015 after Kayleigh and Paul dropped into the Red Lion in Northmoor and will finish on Friday at the Red Lion at Boldre, Hampshire.

By that time they will have visited all 632 licensed premises with the most popular pub name in Britain, with their journey having taken them to Scotland.

Miss Snell said: “It’s been amazing. We’ve been to so many places and met so many interesting people and everyone’s been really generous.”

The Red Lion is Britain’s most popular pub name, ahead of the Crown and then the Royal Oak.

The Cricklade establishment is no late pretender to the title, as it dates back to the early 1600s and retains many historic features.

Owner Tom Gee said: “We have always strived to be a traditional pub but with some modern values as well. We have always stayed a pub first and foremost but with fantastic food, our own brewery and bedrooms. I’m pretty sure you would struggle to find another pub with as many strings in its bow as we have. I remember the couple coming in and we would love to have them back here to enjoy the micro-brewery again.”