HUNDREDS of beer enthusiasts gathered in Chappel for the Winter Beer Festival.

The sell-out beer festival held at the East Anglian Railway Museum was celebrating its tenth anniversary on Friday and Saturday.

With a variety of around 70 different beers and ales from local breweries and some rare tipples there was plenty for all of the 1,200 visitors to try.

The weekend also boasted two performances of live music from The Machine Shed Band and The Silburys as well as two troops of morris dancers, The Belchamp Morris Men and The Hells Bells Ladies Dance Troop from Castle Hedingham, entertaining visitors on Saturday afternoon.

Brendan Sothcott who has been organising the festival for the past ten years said it is fantastic to see how popular it has become.

He said: "It's worth doing when you see people enjoying themselves and seeing all of the smiley faces, it is worthwhile.

"Seeing the local community enjoying themselves is the biggest motivator."

Mr Sothcott said that the festival was a sell out and they even sold out of beer an hour early on the Saturday evening.

"It was very well attended, certainly an improvement from last year with the Beast from the East."

Over the past ten years the winter beer festival has become increasingly more popular, much like its sister festival in the September.

Mr Sothcott added: "We've stabilised a niche market and it does quite well.

"We have more names of band who want to come and play and this year we had an extra troop of morris dancers."

The event will return in September for the summer edition, which has grown to be one of the best attended beer festivals in Essex.

Visit www.chappelbeerfestival.org.uk.