An award-winning brewery in Cumbria has invested a six-figure sum to expand its premises, which will create new jobs.

Keswick Brewing Co has doubled its footprint, with a new cold room, cask wash room and additional fermenting room, along with a new bar called The Fox Tap at Keswick Brewery.

The Fox Tap will be officially opened by members of the town’s mountain rescue team on Tuesday.

Six people currently work at the brewery and it is hoped the brewery’s expansion will create new jobs.

Owner Sue Jefferson said: “We were struggling for space and having to turn people away, but The Fox Tap will enable us to serve drinks in a spacious bar while taking other customers on our popular brewery tours and shop visits.

“Our beers are available at pubs, bars and restaurants across Cumbria and beyond but it is a big step forward for us as an independent to open our own brewery tap, which will show we are here for locals as well as tourists.”

The brewery has won a string of awards at the Great British Beer Festival and from the Society of Independent Brewers, including a gold for its Dark Horse bottled ale.

To celebrate the opening of the brewery tap, a new beer called Fox Pale has been produced.

Sue added: “We invited our local mountain rescue team to pull the first pint of Fox Pale because like Keswick Brewery, they are right at the heart of our community – and they share our thirst for the Lakes.

“All the beers we will be serving here at The Fox Tap are good for the environment too, as they will have travelled about 10 yards from where they were brewed!”

She opened her business in 2006 at The Old Brewery in Brewery Lane, where beer was first produced in 1875.

The Fox Tap, with beer garden, will be open noon to 5pm Tuesday to Saturday.