ONE of south Cumbria's most successful craft breweries has unveiled its multi-million pound expansion.

Hawkshead Brewery says its new £3m brewhouse, based in a 10,000 square-foot warehouse in Flookburgh, near Grange, will allow it to step up production and sell its beer all over the world.

The new £3m facility means it now has the capacity to produce 69,000 pints each week, with plans in place to further increase production in line with demand.

The company's original base at Staveley will continue to produce small batch artisan beers.

Head brewer Matt Clarke said he was excited by the expansion.

He said: "It is a great time for us. A lot of hard work has gone into this new brewhouse that will see us triple production.

"From a brewer's perspective it's great that have top-of-the-line equipment to produce great beers that people will want to drink."

He said he was looking forward to flexing his creative muscles in making new beers thanks to the new equipment.

"It takes all the stress and labour from brewing and being able to relieve some of the pressure of the brew team will help us to push forward," he said.

"The best thing it will free us up at Staveley to produce more experimental beers.

"It will be good to be more creative on that side.

"We've got so many more ideas to bring to the table. It's very promising for the future.

The expansion will see Cumbrian craft beer sold across Europe, Asia and the Americas.

Nigel Campbell, commercial director of craft beer, said: “Hawkshead’s core range has always had a really strong regional following and to be able to further expand its reach throughout the remainder of the UK and overseas is exciting.

Based on Flookburgh's Moor Lane, the brewery sits alongside the factories of other gourmet producers Flookburgh Fish and Game and Cartmel Sticky Toffee Pudding.