A SOUTH Lakeland pub is expanding as success continues to flow in.

The Watermill Inn will add eight bedrooms, more parking spaces and an expanded brewery to its pub.

A shop or reception area with local produce is also in the pipeline for the area where the existing, smaller brewery is located.

“We always have people wanting to stay here and for years staff have been joking we need more bedrooms,” said owner Brian Coulthwaite.

“It’ll give us more space for when the pub gets busy.

“It will also be a good addition to Ings and I think we provide a good facility for the locals and the villagers, which is important in keeping the local economy going, especially in the current climate.”

The pub currently uses two fermenters to help produce almost 3,000 pints of their own beer twice per week.

But the new space means an extra two fermenters can be used, which could double production to almost 6,000 pints.

However, Mr Coulthwaite says these will only be used during busy times, likely to be around summer, and are more likely to be utilised to create seasonal beers.

Mr Coulthwaite, who took over the pub 22 years ago with his mother and father, would like to arrange trips for charities and clubs to view the Watermill Inn staff brewing the beers.

A bridge needs to be built to link the property, which used to be a house, to the back of the pub.

It is an expansion that also has close emotional meaning to Mr Coulthwaite, whose father’s remains are buried close to the Watermill Inn.

“My father always said he wanted to be buried next to a good pub. He’s currently next door but one, but by the time we build the bridge linking the new building to the pub, he’ll be next door.

“We work hard at keeping the service good and that is what this new space will hopefully do for us.”