A FAMOUS tea room has won a bidding war to become the only place in the world selling an award-winning exotic coffee.

Bettys is now selling Bos-que Lya coffee, from El Salvador, South America.

It won this year's Cup of Excellence competition in which three different expert juries tasted more than 150 different coffees.

After a four-hour bidding war, Bettys' coffee buyer Mike Riley fought off competition from leading coffee merchants in Japan and the US to bring it to Yorkshire.

Mr Riley said: "It's probably one of the most finely balanced cups of coffee I've ever tasted.

"It has a great complexity of flavours - hazelnut notes, complemented by a smooth creaminess, a hint of milk chocolate with just a little sweetness and vanilla."

It is available in all five Bettys Cafe Tea Rooms in York, Harrogate, Ilkley and Northallerton.