THE pub which has hosted the one of the country's biggest beer festivals for the last 10 years is up for sale.

The Howcroft Inn is one of six pubs owned by landlord Clive Nightingale who has pledged that the beer festival will still go ahead.

If the new landlord of the Howcroft cannot stage the festival, which has raised £130,000 for Bolton Lads and Girls Club, Mr Nightingale said he would hold the event at one of his other pubs.

He has staged the Bolton Beer festival at the Howcroft pub since 1993 and the event has grown with thousands of people descending on the Pool Street pub every year.

The beer festival has become one of the largest pub-based festivals in the country -- with hundreds of beers from every corner of England on offer for real ale lovers.

The huge success of the festival has helped to generate thousands of pounds for the Spa Road based Lads and Girls Club. The 39-year-old landlord, who runs The Sharman Arms in Bolton, The Hope & Anchor in Doffcocker and is also selling The Black Horse in Blackrod, said: "It's absolutely brilliant that beer lovers have helped to raise so much money since we started.

"The Bolton Lads and Girls Club is a local charity which I have been involved before I started the festival. I very much like what they do for children in Bolton.

"Five thousand people attend our festival every year and we make sure that people know about the Lads and Girls Club." "We have a big spread in our programme which explains to them what the Lads and Girls Club is all about. We are one of the only fundraising events which raises the profile and awareness of the club, as well as much needed cash." Mr Nightingale has decided to leave the Howcroft pub for personal reasons, although he will still remain there until a buyer is found.

But he said that if his successor did not wish to continue with the festival -- he would run the festival from another of his pubs.

Mr Nightingale said: "I am hoping that my eventual successor will continue with the tradition of the festival. It's fantastic for the pub because it attracts so much trade during the week, it's so lively and busy. It would not make sense for them not to continue with the festival.

"But if that is the case then I will carry on the tradition at another pub, it may take two or three years to get it up the standard it is now, but I want to keep raising money for the Lads and Girls Club."

Claire Phillips, fundraising officer for Bolton Lads and Girls Club, said: "We can't thank Clive enough for the hard work he has put into the festival for the last ten years, to help the young people of the town.

"There are so many activities which we could not have provided without the invaluable help from the Bolton Beer Festival."

This year's Bolton Beer Festival will take place from 13 to 17 October at the Howcroft pub.

To sponsor a beer barrel contact Claire Phillips on 01204 540 117.