PENDLE Beer Festival was hailed as the best ever by organisers after the popular event ran out of booze with two hours to go.

East Lancashire CAMRA’s flagship festival ran from Thursday to Saturday at Colne Muni.

And by 9pm on the closing day, punters were told that the beer had run out altogether.

East Lancashire CAMRA chairman John Webster said he ‘wasn’t surprised’ the ale ran out.

He said: “I was there until 7.30pm on Saturday and the barrels were going down thick and fast.

“It is a very successful festival and it seems to get better every year.

“I go round quite a few beer festivals and when you tell people you are from Pendle they say, ‘Oh that’s a great festival’.

“I think it is probably one of the best in the country.”

Hundreds of people flocked to the festival over the course of the three days, raising cash for Pendleside Hospice.

Mr Webster said the darker beers had proved very popular this year. He said: “As usual, the first to sell out were the stronger ales.

“But we had quite a few dark beers on and ordinary bitters which went down very well.

“There are a lot of light beers around these days but people want to see more of the bitters and dark ales.”

Beers from all over the UK were showcased at the festival.

They included some from East Lancashire breweries Barlick Brewery, Bowland Brewery, Fallons, Jubilee Tower and Hopstar of Darwen, Moonstone Brewery, Reedley Hallows and Moorhouse’s of Burnley, Rossendale Brewery of Haslingden, Three B’s and Thwaites of Blackburn and Worsthorne Brewery.