A PUB'S former landlord's beer won the vote of drinkers when it held its summer beer festival.

The three-day event at the Beamish Mary, at No Place, near Stanley, featured 17 ales and two ciders, all newly-created products, from small breweries up and down the country.

The winner of the competition for the favourite brew of festival-goers was John Taylor, who ran the pub for several years and built it into a haven for lovers of real ales, winning Camra's national pub of the year award more than ten years ago.

Mr Taylor, who still lives in the village and is now landlord of the Sun Inn in Beamish Museum, has started brewing and his four per cent strength Summer Snorter topped the popularity charts.

It is made by his Bull Lane Brewery, based at The Clarendon pub in Sunderland, which he partly owns.

Beamish Mary landlord Graham Ford said: "He romped home as the clear winner. It was the first beer to sell out and there wasn't a black mark against it."