With about 1,000 visitors to Alnwick's Town Hall over the weekend the second Alnwick Beer Festival was a huge success.

Half of the 30 beers and three ciders on offer completely sold out over the weekend, with Tyneside Blonde from Hadrian and Border brewery the best selling beer for the second year in a row.

Garry Hodgson, organiser of the beer festival, said: "It was a huge success. It certainly was a massive benefit to hold it in the Town Hall near the food festival.

"It was great fun, all the guys really enjoyed it. The lads that helped really put in a lot of effort. Thanks must also go to the Freemen for allowing us to use the Town Hall and the food festival themselves for bringing us into the fold.

"We had really geared it up for real beer festival goers like last year but this year, being in the Town Hall, we got a lot of people who were at the food festival who came up for a couple of drinks and headed off.

"The free drinks for drivers also went down well."

And Alnwick Beer Festival could become a annual event for the foreseeable future.

Garry said: "We will do it again, everything being well and everybody giving us the same support.

"It's here to stay."