WINE and beer buffs raised a glass to victory after they won a prestigious national championship for making home made drinks.

Using elderberries picked from the fields of Belmont and gooseberries and other fruit plucked from hedgerows across the town, the Bolton Wine and Beer Making Circle produce a wide range of home made drinks.

And the fruity ingredients paid off for the group who finally realised their dream by knocking the reigning champions from the coveted top spot in the Amateur Wine and Beermakers annual national show after 10 years of trying. The Bolton club took 2,000 bottles of wine and beer to the finals held in Scarborough - including 67 different varieties of wine - where they managed to topple the once mighty Phoenix club from the North-east who had retained the national crown for the past nine years.