A LANDLADY hopes punters won't be bitter when they discover their local has turned into an alcohol-free zone over the bank holiday weekend.

Traffic jams and hangovers are the two things people try to avoid over bank holiday weekends.

So Julia Welsh, landlady of the Dog and Gun Inn, in Low Etherley, Bishop Auckland, hopes she might be on to a winner with her distinctly sober drinking house.

She will be calling time on pints and shorts and replacing them with soft drinks and fruit juices, but Julia says she hopes spirits will still be high.

She said: "We thought we would have an alcohol-free weekend, for people sick of a bank holiday hangover. It's a little bit different.

"There's a big Christian gathering in the area at the weekend, and we thought a couple of them might be interested. We'll concentrate on serving food and hope we'll get lots of families coming along.