Access into H-mode is studied in the MAST tokamak when plasma is fuelled by cryogenic pellets. It is shown that pellet fuelling from the high-field side allows access to H-mode in plasmas heated by neutral beams. Simple and two-stage L–H transitions are identified. The results of comparison of the L–H transitions with pellet injection with transitions where plasmas are fuelled solely by gas puffing depend on the gas puff geometry: fuelling by high-field side gas leads to an L–H transition at the density comparable to the transition with pellet injection. In contrast low-field gas can completely prevent the L–H transition.