DRINKERS are urged to toast the festive season and help to bring a warm glow to the spirits of hospice fundraisers into the process.

A special yuletide offer has been made at the Nevilles Cross free house on the outskirts of Durham. Bar manager Lucy Caddel has produced her own version of an Eighteenth Century mulled wine recipe, first concocted by Dr Samuel Johnson.

Based on three varieties of brandy, with orange, wine, cloves, nutmeg, and sprinkled with ginger and cinnamon, a goblet of the traditional liquor is said to bring an immediate warm feeling to the drinker.

For every £1.50 glass of the mixture, 50p is being donated to the appeal funds for the nearby St Cuthbert's Hospice.

The offer applies in the run in to Christmas, over New Year and ends on January 6.

Lucy said regulars at the Nevilles Cross have traditionally supported the hospice, at Park House in Merryoaks.