A popular beer festival is to return in a bid to raise funds for a town's lido appeal.

The Beccles Beer Festival returns next weekend for its eighth outing, and will mark the arrival of the first commercial brewery in Beccles in more than 150 years by featuring all three of the new Beccles Brew Co. ales, which only started being produced this summer.

Festival organiser and district councillor Graham Elliott said: "We are really excited to have a brewery in Beccles and particularly one that champions the identity of the town.

"We felt we had to welcome the new brewery by featuring all three of their beers - Nelson's Tree, Hodgkins Hop and Leman Drop.

"We are also delighted to allocate the staffing of the entire opening shift of the beer festival to Beccles town councillors.

"This is a real seal of approval from our town council and an acknowledgement of the benefits that the event brings to town.

"The festival will be officially opened by the mayor at 4pm on November 15 before she swiftly changes to more suitable attire to serve the early customers."

The festival will feature 30 real ales from across Suffolk and Norfolk, as well as craft lager and cider, as well as an auction of 18 bottles of vintage beer from the 1970s. Bidding on the bottles will close at 4pm on Sunday.

Proceeds from the festival will go towards the Beccles Lido refurbishment.

Shaun Crowley, chief executive of Beccles Lido Limited which runs the lido and Public Hall, said: "Not only is the beer festival the lido's big fundraiser of the year, but it also brings large numbers of people into our wonderful Public Hall and into the town from all over East Anglia.

"It is great for the Beccles economy, with town centre pubs and restaurants in previous years all reporting one of their busiest weekends as visitors sample the other delights of the town."

The Beccles Beer Festival will open at 4pm until 11pm on Friday, November 15, from noon until 11pm on Saturday, November 16, and from noon until 6pm on Sunday, November 17.