DRINKERS raised a toast last weekend to another top beer festival in the town.

The fifth Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) Bromsgrove Beer Festival, organised by the Redditch and Bromsgrove branch, was held last Thursday to Saturday at Bromsgrove Rugby Football Club, in Finstall.

Over the event 1,700 people packed into the grounds and marquee to sample the vast range of real ales, cider, perry and fruit wines.

Speaking to the Advertiser/Messenger on Saturday evening, CAMRA director and member of the National Executive Brett Laniosh said: "The festival has gone brilliantly - the best ever and we have exceeded all records.

"The cider and perry ran out at 6pm on Saturday and even though it was raining on Friday night the number of people who turned up was higher than expected."

He added: "We would like to thank all our customers for turning up. The feedback has been brilliant and it proves that local drinkers want local beers. Also thanks to membership secretary Doug Robinson, who has done a fantastic job signing people up, we have just got the 500th member of CAMRA in this area."

During the course of the festival 6,600 pints of beer were served, not including cider or perry.

Visitors had the chance to try out a record amount of real ales and there were also a record number of cider and perry, plus fruit wines. There was also the exclusive festival beer named after Bromsgrove's famous Rousler, which was produced by a local brewery.