Is this Sheffield's toughest critic? One-star rating prompts witty response from pub owners

Most pubs would be horrified to receive a one-star rating, especially with customer reviews proving so influential these days.

By The Newsroom

Published 20th Mar 2018, 08:40 BST

Updated 20th Mar 2018, 08:45 BST

The Beer Engine on Cemetery Road in Sheffield

But The Beer Engine in Sheffield was more puzzled than peeved when one visitor recently awarded it a solitary star out of the five available on Google.

"Friendly and lovely venue, good food," wrote Mary Holding - hardly grounds for such a negative score, you would think.

Luckily, the watering hole on Cemetery Road, just off London Road, was able to see the funny side.

"Our ultimate goal is the hope we can, one day, achieve the highest accolade of a two-star review from Mary 'tough love' Holding. #reachforthestars #sheffieldissuper #wecandoit #sheffieldindependent," it tweeted.

The one-star rating hasn't affected the pub's overall rating too drastically. It still has an average of 4.6 stars from 264 reviews on Google, and an even more impressive 4.9 stars from 119 ratings on Facebook.