A PUB chain will go ahead with its 12-day beer festival next week despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Wetherspoons is running the real ale event in all of its pubs in the North-East from Wednesday.

The company has confirmed it will go ahead, unless pubs are told to shut.

On Friday morning, Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gershon said: “We can confirm that the beer festivals will take place while the pubs remain open.

“The pubs will remain open unless we are told to do otherwise.”

Beers for the event have all been made by female brewers in the UK and overseas.

The line-up includes up to 25 new, seasonal and speciality beers, vegan and gluten free beers and those brewed exclusively for the festival, all priced at £1.99.

Lee Broadley, manager at The William Stead, in Darlington, said: "The festival will be celebrating female brewers from the UK and overseas.

"It will allow us to showcase their excellent beers.

"We are promising our customers a range of beers from overseas together with some great beers from brewers across the UK.

"The festival will be the perfect way for real ale enthusiasts to enjoy a range of beers over 12 days."

Customers will be able to sample any three of the real ales in special third-of-a-pint glasses for the price of a pint.

Tim Martin, Wetherspoons boss, has argued his pubs should stay open, compared the chain to Parliament, where MPs are still sitting.

“Our main desire is that pubs should remain open, rather in the way that Parliament has remained open,” he said.

“You’d be aghast if every MP was sitting next to every other MP, but it’s right that it should stay open on a sensible basis.”

He said “reasonable social distancing” would happen automatically in Wetherspoons as the number of punters drop.

Mr Martin also said that he could introduce rules which prevent people from standing at the bar, and getting staff to clean down the surfaces twice an hour.

“Closure is much more draconian, and we don’t think that it brings health benefits, and it certainly doesn’t bring economic benefits,” he added.

Government advice, which it received from healthcare experts, is to stay away from pubs and restaurants to limit the spread of the disease.