A 17TH Century country pub is to host the first beer festival in a part of the region for several years this weekend.

The Strathmore Arms, in Holwick, near Middleton-in-Teesdale, County Durham, will be offering more than 20 guest ales from both local and national small breweries.

Some of the local ales on tap will include High Force Cauldron Snout, Ambleton Ales' Nightmare and Durham Brewery's Magus.

The pub has recently been refurbished by landlords Helen Osborne and Joe Cogdon.

Ms Osborne said: "Joe has worked really hard turning this into a real ale pub and we wanted to do something on a bigger and better scale to get the real ale promoted.

"A lot of our locals are real ale drinkers and so are excited by this. We've even got a coach coming from Darlington for the festival."

The festival starts on Friday and will celebrate St George's Day, when visitors are encouraged to come in fancy dress. There will also be folk music provided by Michael and Peter Berresford.

The Black Sheep Morris Dancers will entertain visitors on Friday and Saturday. There will be a barbecue on Saturday and traditional lunches on Sunday.

Charity fundraising will be held throughout the weekend in aid of the Teesdale and Weardale Search and Rescue Team.