WORCESTER real ale fans have joined forces with city landlords and brewers to stage a brand-new pub beer festival.

The festival has been organised by the Worcester branch of CAMRA and brings together a dozen city venues.

The venues taking part are: the Arch Rivals, the Cardinals Hat, the Dragon Inn, the Eagle Vaults, the Firefly, the Imperial, the King Charles II, the Oil Basin, the Paul Pry, the Plough, the Sociable Beer Company and the Worcester Brewing Company.

Organisers promise over 120 beers and ciders, some never seen before in the city.

Some of the venues will also be recommending beers and ciders to go with the food they have available, and some venues will have live entertainment.

All are within a mile of Foregate Street station and the city’s bus station, and organisers hope that beer and cider fans from across the Midlands and beyond will visit the city.

Stephen Connelly of CAMRA said: “I have been toying with the idea of a pubs festival in Worcester for a few years.

“We decided to just have 12 venues in the city centre this time because we want to encourage people to come from outside the city and these venues are all easy walking distance from public transport.

"We will be looking at having more pubs taking part in future years.”

CAMRA volunteers will be meeting and greeting visitors outside Foregate Street station, and a special booklet will be available profiling the venues, along with a map to help visitors find them.

The event, on Friday, March 29 to Sunday, March 31, follows a recent explosion of new pubs and breweries in the city.

The popular annual CAMRA Beer, Cider and Perry festival will still be taking place in August at Pitchcroft.