THE Cotswold countryside was built on the success of the Cotswold Lion sheep and now a Cotswold Lion Beer has been launched to celebrate the success of both.

The pale fruit ale has been produced by Hook Norton Brewery in partnership with the Cotswold Conservation Board, the organisation which works to conserve and enhance the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty formed 40 years ago.

The beer will be on sale in bottles and draught in Hook Norton pubs throughout the Brewery Estate and around 300 other pubs, off-licences and shops across the Cotswolds AONB which stretches from south Warwickshire and Worcestershire in the north, through Gloucestershire and West Oxfordshire down to Bath and Wiltshire in the south, a total of 790 square miles. The name of the beer was taken from the Cotswold Lion sheep that serves as the Cotswolds Conservation Board's logo and mascot.