Brussels: Tired of delivery trucks rumbling near its mythic canals, Belgium's medieval town of Bruges has approved the construction of a beer pipeline to link a five-century-old brewery to a bottling factory nearby.

The three-kilometre underground pipeline will link the De Halve Maan brewery in the heart of the "Venice of the North" to an industrial park where the beer will be bottled and shipped to thirsty drinkers worldwide, the company's director Xavier Vanneste said on Tuesday.

Pipeline to reduce Traffic on Bruges cobblestoned alleys: A man plays a barrel organ in Bruges' market square. Credit:AFP

"The idea is born of environmental and quality of life concerns and not economic ones," he said.

Once fully approved and constructed, the pipeline will keep 500 trucks out of the city's cobblestoned alleys every year, about 85 per cent of the town's truck traffic.