REAL ale fans thought it had taken a nose dive but the Lancaster Bomber has bounced back.

The famous brew made by the now defunct Mitchells Brewery is ready for take off again thanks to a rescue mission by Blackburn-based brewery Daniel Thwaites.

The cask conditioned ale which proudly bore the name of the city in which it was produced ceased production three years ago when Mitchells closed its brewery to concentrate on its chain of pubs.

Local real ale fans were so upset they organised a ' wake' to protest but it's set to be back at the pumps thanks to the new deal.

Originally launched to commemorate the 50th anniversary of D-Day, sales manager Paul Winter said: "We are delighted to bring the Bomber on Board.

Our friends at Mitchells were very careful about where to place the future of their best-known beers and rightly so.

We take it as a compliment that they have seen fit to entrust us with the beer.

"The Lancaster Bomber is in safe hands.

Mitchell's managing director, Dermot McCarthy, said: " Thwaites, as Mitchells once was, is a brewery of great tradition and its wonderful that two such famous Lancashire families should get together in this way.

We were concerned for the future of the beer and are delighted to see it back in business."