TO many awestruck visitors the Tyne's newest bridge is a truly intoxicating sight - so intoxicating that a local brewer has named a new beer after it.

Garry Fawson came up with his latest tipple after casting his eyes over the Gateshead Millennium Bridge.

Commissioned by Gateshead Council to serve up a celebratory ale to the bridge's public opening, he says the clean, sharp lines of the superstructure inspired the new brew.

Garry, who owns Wallsend's Mordue brewery with his brother Matthew, said: "When we were asked to come up with a beer to celebrate the bridge, I thought I'd better go across it for inspiration.

"I was struck by how clean and sharp-looking it was. We wanted to produce a beer that would reflect that."

The crisp taste of the beer, called Mordue's Millennium Bridge Ale, is available at pubs across Tyneside, and The Old England in Great Lumley, near Chester-le-Street.

The 3.8% pale ale is made entirely from local barley and English hops, and if its name doesn't grab you, the title of Mordue's next product certainly will - a full German-style beer made from wheat called Al-wheat Pet.