An alcohol watchdog is bracing itself for complaints over the sale of Greenleaf lager, the first British beer brewed from hemp, which has been given the go-ahead by the Home Office drugs department after nine months of negotiations.

The move has sparked concern among alcohol campaigners alarmed by the link between the drink and cannabis. But its maker insisted it was simply using an alternative crop to hops and said the beer - made from a mixture of hemp and hops - is good enough to win followers on its merits.

Mr Paul Soden, of Birmingham-based brewer Hemp Lager, said it was nonsense to equate hemp - which belongs to the same family as hops - with cannabis, which was simply a derivative of the plant.

Recently, the Body Shop courted controversy with the launch of a range of body cosmetics containing hemp extracts.

Ms Jean Coussins, director of industry-funded watchdog The Portman Group, which polices the marketing of alcopops and other alcoholic drinks, said there had been no complaints - as yet.

But added: ''Our code of practice was strengthened last year in a number of ways and one was to spell out that allusions to illegal drugs are not acceptable.

''Whether this drink would be seen as doing that remains to be seen, but I wouldn't be surprised if we had complaints.''