A scientist from Oxford Brookes University has received a top honour for her research on beer.

Dr Katherine Smart, 36, a reader in brewing science, has become the youngest ever Fellow of the Institute and Guild of Brewing. She said she was delighted get the award.

Only three other women have ever received it.

Dr Smart leads a brewing research team at Oxford Brookes. The team has been working on the yeast fermentation process and how to improve the taste and quality of beer.

In 1999, the Guild and Institute gave Dr Smart a Cambridge Prize for Science.

In 2001, she won a Royal Society Industrial Fellowship.