REAL ale fans are gearing up for their own version of the FA Cup.

Sunderland-supporting landlord Graham Ford is modelling the 12th annual beer festival at the Beamish Mary Inn, No Place, near Stanley, on the football competition.

The beer voted the best by a panel of expert judges at next week's event will win a miniature version of the trophy for the team that selected it.

"We are calling it the Firkin Ale Challenge Cup,'' said Mr Ford.

"We decided to do something different and we came up with the idea of getting teams to go to ten different parts of the country to bring back firkins of real ale."

Twenty ales from areas such as Nottinghamshire, Greater Manchester, Cumbria, Liverpool and Yorkshire will be on offer along with a further ten from local breweries. In all, 2,160 pints will be on tap during the three-day festival. Money raised by the event will go to the charity chosen by the team whose beer is declared the winner.

Mr Ford, who drew Nottingham to get his two ales from, said: "I'm hoping for an FA Cup double - Sunderland and me.''

The festival starts at 7pm on Friday, January 31, continues on Saturday, from noon until 11pm, and on Sunday, from noon to 10.30pm.

The winning ale will be announced on Sunday evening.

Admission is free and beers will cost £1. For details, call 0191-370 0237.