Green Mill Brewery has scooped a top award for producing one of the best bitters in Britain.

The brewery's Big Chief Bitter, which is five and a half per cent alcohol, was judged champion beer in the strong bitter category of a national competition.

Big Chief Bitter was one of just nine beers to win a national title, from the 1,400 that entered the initial stages of the competition.

The bitter was judged in seven regional heats, followed by a final judging in Nottingham last month before being short-listed as one of 63 beers to be judged at the National Beer Competition held by the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA).

Winners were announced in Stratford-on-Avon last week.

Green Mill Brewery is a family business, which was set up in the basement of Queensway Snooker club and has been brewing for less than three years.

They aim to create quality ales using traditional ingredients, producing their first brew in July 2007.

Matthew Wild from Green Mill Brewery said: "We are very proud of our beers and delighted to win this award ahead of some of the finest brewers in the country. We're grateful to everyone at our brewery and to the many people locally who have helped us to brew great beer. We promise to continue doing so for many more years and hope that this award will help us to bring our beers to many more people."

The winning beer has been awarded a place on the SIBA Champions Bar at the Great British Beer Festival in London this summer, which is visited by over 60,000 people.