THIRSTY Witney residents gathered in their hundreds at St Mary’s Church over the weekend for a charity knees-up.

The annual Witney Beer Festival, organised by volunteers from international charity The Round Table, returned to the town on Saturday.

It and was set to raise thousands of pounds for local clubs, groups and charitable organisations.

Graham Maskell, of Wychwood Brewery, said on Sunday the event had been ‘super’.

He added: “It was very busy. We had a good turnout and I think all the beer sold out.”

The Witney Beer Festival was first launched in 2012 to mark the Queen’s diamond jubilee.

Since then it has gone on to raise £31,015 over five years and organisers had set an ambitious target for this year’s festival of £15,000.

Some of the cash raised from Saturday’s event will go to St Mary’s Preservation Trust for much-needed work to the church spire.

Meanwhile Witney Round Table will distribute its share through the club to West Oxfordshire organisations such as the local Cubs, Witney TV and Special Effect.

Brendan Kay, vice president of Witney Round Table, said: “It’s a massive effort but an enormously well-attended event.”

Last year volunteers served an average of 600 pints per hour to about 2,000 people over the course of the day, raising £12,000 in the process.