DERBY has been named the real ale capital of the country by a UK pub chain.

Drinkers supped 21,500 pints at the Standing Order and the Babington Arms during a 16-day beer festival.

The Standing Order, in Iron Gate, was the top-selling pub with 12,000 pints, more than any of the other participating 700 Wetherspoons pubs across the country.

And the Babington Arms, Babington Lane, sold more than 9,500 pints during the same festival, putting it in third place nationally.

A spokesman for Wetherspoons said this left the pub giant in no doubt that the city's drinkers knew their beer.

He said: "It is well known that drinkers in the East Midlands love their real ale.

"The festival saw more than 20,000 pints sunk by Derby drinkers proving to us that the city is the real ale capital of the country.

"People in the city clearly know their real ale, that's for sure."

More than 700 pubs took part in the festival, which ran from ran from October 14 to October 30.

Karl Morris, 40, who has been the manager of the Standing Order for 10 years, said: "To top 12,000 pints is an incredible achievement because it had never been done by anyone in the country before.

"There was a steady stream of people coming through the pub throughout the festival and with it being spread out over such a long period it gave everyone plenty of time to drop by.

"We had 50 different beers on during the 16 days and offered drinkers a real range of ales, all of which went down well."

Mark Robins, duty manager at the Babington Arms, said he was still delighted with the customer feedback from the festival.

The 50-year-old, who has worked at the pub for three years, said: "We won Camra's city pub of the year so they recognise the quality of what we sell here.

"We had Polish plum beers which went down really well and another real ale, called Proper Job, from the St Austell Brewery, in Cornwall, which sold out really quickly.

"It tasted just like liquid pasties. It was beautiful."

Derby Beer King, Les Baynton, said: "Real ale drinkers in Derby are very knowledgeable and stay faithful to the places that offer them well-kept, high-quality real ale."