A pipeline for beer has been constructed in the Belgian city of Bruges to avoid problems caused by tankers travelling through the historic city.

It will connect the De Halve Maan brewery in the centre of Bruges with a bottling plant on the edge of the city.

Bruges Zot is made by the brewery

The project required four years of planning and five months of construction.

Bruges' cobblestones struggled as the beer carrying trucks which weigh more than 40 tonnes did their rounds.

Halve Maan's managing director, Xavier Vanneste says that the brewery could have moved and maintained its current premise as a beer museum, but the company wanted to stay put.

"People want to see something that is alive and not just some dusty museum," he added.

The construction cost €4m, it received a subsidy from the Flemish regional government and raised some €350,000 in crowd funding.

This was one of the country's largest ever crowd-funding drives.

Investors were repaid with beer - with those contributing €7,500 being offered one bottle of Brugse Zot every day for as long as they live.