HUNDREDS of people turned out in force for an annual beer festival in Westhoughton.

Daisy Hill Cricket Club hosts its annual St George’s Beer Festival on the closest weekend to the national celebration each year.

And with this year’s fortuitously falling on an Easter bank holiday weekend filled with beautiful sunshine and balmy temperatures, visitors made the most of it by turning out in force.

Running from Friday through until today, a range of 20 beers from a variety of brewers were on sale, including Hindley-based Hophurst and Wily Fox, which is based in Wigan.

And for those less keen on their real ales, there were also a range of gins and Prosecco on offer.

Neil Redford, one of the beer festival’s organisers, said: “It has been going really well so far.

“The turnout has been huge, it has gone better than we expected.

“Of course, the weather has helped; we must have had close to a thousand people down here throughout Saturday.

“No one ever seems to do anything for St George’s Day so we thought we would.

“We like to try and showcase as many local beers as we can and support the community.”

Throughout the weekend, visitors were kept entertained by a number of live music acts, including a Meat Loaf tribute act.

Meanwhile, several T20 cricket matches also took place between local cricket clubs, including Daisy Hill, Westhoughton and Farnworth Social Circle, on Saturday afternoon.

Yesterday, a rounders match between a male and female side also took place.

And for anyone feeling slightly peckish, there was continental fare in the form of German sausages and Belgian waffles on sale to sate their appetite.

As the weekend draws to a close, today will mark the final day of the festival. Doors will open from 2pm and shut at 11pm tonight.

Entry is £2 and includes a glass.

For more information on the beer festival, call 01942 811065.