AN EXBOURNE pub, which was brought back from the brink of closing four years ago, will be hosting the community's first beer festival this week and donating 50p from each pint to charity.

Landlord Nick Hamlyn, whose pub 'The Red Lion Inn' has been featured in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide for the first time, is hoping as many people as possible from the community come out and support the event.

Four years ago the Red Lion was closed for three months and there were fears that it would not re-open, but with support from the community and focus on local real ales and locally produced food, the new owner has turned around its fortunes.

Nick said when he took it on the place needed a lot of attention and it had been a lot of hard work to get it to a stage where he was happy to host a beer festival.

'Local people have been really supportive — it's a real community pub so I hope we get everyone joining in,' he said.

The festival starts today (Thursday) with the Cogs and Wheels ladies Morris dancing group performing, and runs until Sunday.

The charities to benefit from the event are the Devon Air Ambulance, the Adam Stansfield Foundation in memory of the Exeter City striker who died from bowel cancer at the age of 31, Exbourne Playing Field Association and Exbourne Pre-School.