It's enough to make you cry into your beer.

Red-faced organisers of a beer festival had to tell punters they had run out of beer, some hours before the event was due to end.

But the people behind Octoberfest, which was held at Weymouth Pavilion at the weekend, are putting the blame squarely on the national organisation of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).

The West Dorset branch of CAMRA, which brings Octoberfest to the venue each year, say they have to adhere to strict guidelines.

They have raised their concerns with the national body after they were given some 10 barrels fewer than last year and ran out far too early.

Drinkers were told about 8pm on Saturday – the fourth and last session of the festival – that the drink had run dry. The event was due to finish at 11.30pm.

Some refunds were given while others made do drinking the cider, which was in plentiful supply.

West Dorset CAMRA said they wanted it to be "publicly known that the reason we sold out of beer so early on Saturday night was due to the governs of CAMRA’s national budgeting policy for ordering quantities of beer and cider for CAMRA beer festivals and we were adhering to those strict guidelines for the festival to happen".

"Customers were compensated for their disappointment with extra tokens for cider and refunds were given if requested", a statement added.

Organisers said despite this hiccup, the festival was a success with approximately 900 people attending the event over the four sessions and consuming in the region of 4,000 thousand pints of beer and cider.

CAMRA bar manager Rich Gabe said: "It’s a shame we were not able to offer Saturday night customers the fantastic range of beer that was on offer at the previous sessions. This is an issue that has been notified to CAMRA’s head office in St Albans and we are awaiting a response.

"On a positive note I would like to thank all the volunteers who gave up their free time to work, the customers for continued support and above all thank the customers that were understanding of the situation Saturday night."

Catherine Tonry, National Festival Organiser for CAMRA said in repsonse: "CAMRA operates a policy in that each local festival applies for beer festival funding based on the number of visitors they expect through the door.

"The Weymouth branch's beer order was based on previous attendee numbers - obviously, the festival was much more popular this year than ever before.

"It's great to see the people of Weymouth enjoying the range of brews available at a CAMRA fest, and we're confident that the success will encourage the branch to order more beer for next year."