A REAL ale pub is rolling out the barrel to celebrate a special birthday - of a beer.

For ten years drinkers at the Beamish Mary, No Place, near Stanley, have enjoyed the taste of Back Shift Bitter (BSB), which is brewed exclusively for the pub by Tyneside's Big Lamp Brewery.

Next Friday night the pub will hold a party to celebrate the popular brew's anniversary.

The pub will be giving away 280 pints of BSB, there will be raffles, a birthday cake and music by the pub's resident rock group The Scratch Band.

Landlord Graham Ford said: "The previous landlord John Taylor got the idea for the beer because he wanted a pleasant drink that people working shifts could have after work.

"He wanted a nice refreshing 3.8 per cent pint and got the idea from East Anglia where they have quaffable beers that are hoppy. Ten years down the line, it is the best-selling bitter in the pub.

"It is exclusive to the pub and Big Lamp also do Lamp Light for us. It's my recipe and is designed to get lager drinkers into real ale."

Admission is free and the party starts at 7pm. Proceeds from the event will go to Leukaemia Research, a charity the pub has supported for several years.