A BREWERY run by two school friends has moved to larger premises to meet a growing demand from real ale lovers.

Wensleydale Brewery started in a small back room at the Forester's Arms, in Carlton, near Leyburn, North Yorkshire.

In order to keep supplying shops and pubs, owners Richard Thompson and Peter Fairhall needed to expand.

The pair's new site in Bellerby, also near Leyburn, can produce 100 barrels a week -ten times the capacity at the pub.

The business partners, who met while at school in the 1970s, both left successful careers to become brewers.

Mr Thompson ran the Northallerton and Richmond branches of the Bradford and Bingley building society.

Mr Fairhall was a solicitor in Suffolk before he tried brewing for a Cambridge pub he owned with his sister.

Before moving to the Yorkshire Dales, he had already tasted success when his Rowley Mild won the mild class in the Great British Beer Festival in 2003.

Mr Thompson said: "We were both fed up with our jobs and wanted to do something interesting.

"We kicked off brewing in February last year and, since then, the response has been tremendous. We do everything ourselves; from the brewing to the bottling, labelling, delivering and marketing."

They supply several pubs in the Dales and Darlington area, as well as a growing number of shops.

Wensleydale Brewery beers will be served at the forthcoming Dales Festival of Food and Drink, from April 30 to May 2, in Leyburn.

The ales will also be available, along with other local brews, at a real ale festival at Wensleydale Rugby Club, near Leyburn, on Friday and Saturday, April 29 and 30.