A PUB landlady has raised a glass to winning the shield for best poppy seller for an incredible eighth straight year.

“We polish it up and send it back to them before Remembrance Sunday every year, but it’s only for a few weeks as it keeps coming back,” smiled Myra Byett of the Nags Head in Yorkley.

“I’m really glad to put it up in the bar again and hopefully we can win it for a ninth time so we can go for the round ten.

“My regulars are so generous in supporting the Poppy Appeal, so it’s a big thanks to them.”

Lydney and District Royal British Legion (RBL) Poppy Appeal co-ordinator Stan Rudge said they were £1,800 ahead on collections this time last year, with £16,166 already banked.

“It’s thanks to the likes of Myra and her regulars, who have raised around £200 at the Nags Head, and the Air and Sea Cadets, that we’re well on course for a record collection for the area, which stands at £19,722 in 2015/2016.

“It’s an immense effort by Mrya and her customers to land the title of top pub poppy seller for the eighth time in a row.

“The Nag’s first won it in 2010 after three straight wins for the Miners Arms in Whitecroft, and has kept the title ever since, so many thanks to her.”

Dad Mel Rudge, Lydney RBL vice-chairman, said: “We’re aiming for £18,000 by Christmas with the money we’ve still got to come in, plus a few Christmas bazaars and events, and then with our annual concert in February, and a few fetes and other, we can hopefully top the £20,000 mark.”

Gloucestershire singing star Mary-Jess – the Downton Abbey soundtrack vocalist and China X-Factor winner – is also letting them make a bucket collection at her Lydney Town Hall concert on Friday, December 22, having been the branch’s Poppy Appeal headliner at this year’s charity concert.