GIN lovers will be able to enjoy a selection of gins this weekend during an 18-day festival at nine pubs in the area.

The festival will offer up to 15 gins not previously available in the pubs.

It will run from Thursday February 14 to Sunday March 3 inclusive.

The participating pubs are; The Moon in the Square in Exeter Road, The Mary Shelly in The Quadrant Centre and The Christopher Creek in Holdenhurst Road, all in Bournemouth, as well as The Nightjar in Victoria Road, Ferndown, The Parklands and Heatherlands in Wimborne Road, Winton, The Man in the Wall in West Borough, Wimborne, The Blackwater Stream in Lower Blandford Road, Broadstone, The Lord Wimbourne in Lagland Street and The Quay in The Quay, both in Poole.

There will be a number of flavoured gins among the selection.

Among the ingredients in the gins are; heather, dandelion, juniper, raspberries, vanilla, damsons, blackberries and rose petal.

The festival gins include; Aber Falls Orange Marmalade Gin, Adnams Copper House Pink Gin, Didsbury Gin Raspberry & Elderflower, Eden Mill Love Gin Liqueur, Greenall's Wild Berry Gin and The Lakes Damson Gin Liqueur.

All of the gins will be served in a Copa de Balon glass, which is bulbous in shape, like a balloon, and is perfect for drinking gin and tonic.

The Moon in the Square manager, Terri Balloni, said: "The festival will showcase some wonderful gins from across Britain.

"They have not previously been available in the pub and I am sure that our customers will enjoy drinking them."

The gins will range in price from £2.70 to £4.05 (single measure) and include a free mixer.

Tasting notes on all of the gins plus guidance on the best mixers for each gin will be available in the pubs.

During the festival, the pubs will continue to serve their regular range of up to 12 gins.