A specially commissioned real ale marking the 25th anniversary of the Friends of Norwich in Bloom has been delivered to 17 real ale pubs and bars in the city - and will be available from next week.

The new ale, Bloomers, brewed by Beeston Brewery in west Norfolk, will be launched at The Assembly House in Norwich next Tuesday, after which it will be on offer across the city.

Pubs and bars stocking the new ale include the Jubilee in St Leonard's Road, the Fat Cat and Canary in Thorpe Road, the Eaton Cottage in Mount Pleasant and the Playhouse Bar in St George's Street.

Independent local brewer, Mark Riches, of Beeston Brewery, said: 'If the beer is popular, it could become a regular brew and continue to raise the profile of Norwich in Bloom, and real ale generally, across Norwich and beyond.'

Pam Keten, of the Friends of Norwich in Bloom, said Bloomers would be available until early August, when Norwich is set to be judged as one of only five cities nominated for the best city category of the Britain in Bloom competition.

She said: 'Our ale was given its name, not only to raise the profile of Norwich as a blooming city, but to also recognise the contribution of the many volunteers (Bloomers) who have worked so hard over the last 25 years to help make Norwich a special place to live. This joint venture with Beeston Brewery is just one example of the excellent support we have received from local businesses since 1987.'

Bloomers is described as a refreshing blonde ale, with floral tones and 4pc alcoholic content.

The launch comes a week after an army of volunteers pounded the streets of Norwich and York to take part in a 'beer census' to find out the full range of ales on offer across the two cities.

The Norwich and Norfolk branch of Camra (Campaign for Real Ale) enlisted the aid of about 30 foot soldiers to visit every pub in the city. They logged every beer available, with their counterparts at York's branch of Camra doing the same.

And it was Norwich which came out on top as the real ale capital of the UK with 254 real ales available in the city's pubs compared to 247 in York's. The figure for Norwich was up from 215 different ales last year and, on per head of population, it also tops Sheffield's 257 ales, as the Yorkshire city's population of about 500,000 is more than double the population of Norwich, about 227,000.

Last weekend's team visited 148 pubs in the city of Norwich and discovered that local ales from 19 of the county's breweries were on sale with Woodforde's Wherry, from Woodbastwick, taking the accolade of most popular ale again, being available in 39 pubs.

The event, which came hot on the heels of the successful City of Ale Festival, fits in with the Evening News Love Your Local campaign, which aims to get people using their local pubs.

To see more stories from the campaign visit www.eveningnews24.co.uk.