RYEDALE residents and local beer enthusiasts are invited to a "housewarming party" with a difference this weekend - at a local brewery.

Chris Waplington and James Broad from Bad Seed Brewery are holding an open day at their new premises, with cake and beer all round.

The duo founded the brewery on the York Road Business Park in Malton two years ago and have grown rapidly, becoming widely respected for the quality of the beers.

They have now moved into larger premises over the road, so they can treble their output to meet soaring demand.

On Saturday, they are inviting local people along for a chat and a look round, and they will have an open bar so visitors can sample the beers. There will be no charge for the beer, but people are asked to instead make a donation to the Scarborough and Ryedale Mountain Rescue Team.

There will also be food available from the Haxby Bakehouse, and baker Victoria Harley will be supplying cakes made with, or paired with, some of the brewery's beers.

Chris said: "We want to open up the whole site and show people the brewery and let them try all our beers.

"Every time we have dropped off beer, people have said they want to come to see the brewery, so we are saying 'come along'. For us, it's really important to have that connection between people making the beer and the people drinking it."

The brewery is hoping to reach new markets including in Northern Ireland, Italy, Spain and Scandinavia, and has already won prestigious contracts with the Tate Modern and with Harvey Nichols.

Chris said: "It has been a real rollercoaster for the past two years. I'm not sure what we did expect, but it has all been incredibly quick and has gone in many different directions since we first started out. We have spent a lot of time trying to catch up on ourselves.

"Various things have worked well for us. Without a doubt, our passion for beer means we are making beers we love to drink and it means we also know what is happing in the beer scene."

Saturday's event runs from noon to 6pm at the brewery, which is at 7 Rye Close, on the York Road Business Park.