WORKINGMEN'S clubs across the North-East have agreed to the sale of the brewery that has supplied them for more than 80 years.

Delegates from 253 clubs voted in favour of the recommendation of the Federation Brewery board to accept a buyout offer from Scottish Courage, parent company of Scottish and Newcastle Breweries.

It will provide a windfall for the clubs, which collectively own the Federation, and in some cases a lifeline against mounting debts.

The Federation brewery site, near the MetroCentre, at Gateshead, has already been sold to the Edinburgh brewer. The deal will see production of Newcastle Brown Ale transferred from the Tyne Brewery, in Newcastle, to the Federation plant by early next year.

Saturday's vote sealed the fate of the co-operative brewery's beers, including LCL Pils and Fed Special, familiar in club bars across the region.

Under the £16.2m deal, Scottish Courage also acquires Federation's distribution assets, tied estate and wholesale business.

A further £4.4m worth of debts will be wiped out under the agreement, and the clubs are expected to benefit from the deal with a share of an £8m payout.

But the decision marking the end of the era for the Federation was a sad one for many of those at the meeting.

Chairman John Coppinger had a tear in his eye as he addressed delegates to put the board's recommendation.

Club and Institute Union general secretary Kevin Smyth said: "It's a sad day for all of us who believe in the ideal of the club movement.

"Maybe there's no longer the sense of loyalty to the community there used to be.

"That's the reason the Fed started, to treat clubs better.

"But there was no real option for the Fed themselves, they had high debt and the pension scheme was in a mess."

Stan Summers, president of Darlington Club and Institute, said: "It's a sad thing, but it was unavoidable."