PUBLICANS Rob Martin and Paul Goldsack are raising their glasses to the future after launching their micro-brewery.

Dorset Piddle Brewery has officially started production of two beers - Yogi and Piddle - at Enterprise Park, a former army camp at Piddlehinton on the outskirts of Dorchester.

The publicans have taken out a five-year lease on a refurbished 1,100 sq ft unit on an annual rent of £6,875.

The unit is the first to be refurbished since Conduit Mead, a London-based property management company, purchased 19 industrial units on an 11.3 acre site for £1.32 million.

Nettleship Sawyer, the Bournemouth-based chartered surveyors and commercial property consultants, handled that sale and also the letting of the refurbished unit to Dorset Piddle Brewery.

The micro-brewery is a new venture for Rob and Paul who have run the historic haunted pub Ye Olde George Inn in Christchurch for the last eight years.

They now plan to carry out at least two brews a week at Piddlehinton, producing up to 2,304 pints each time.

The beer will be sold to customers at Ye Olde George Inn and also offered for sale to pubs in Dorset and surrounding counties.

The Yogi beer (named after Ye Olde George Inn) has a 4.9 per cent alcohol strength while Piddle is 4.1 per cent. The brewing process, including fermentation, takes approximately a week.

The new business has been warmly welcomed by Cllr Nicki Barker, who represents Piddle Valley Ward, including Piddlehinton, on West Dorset District Council. She said: "This is exactly the type of business we want to attract to Enterprise Park, bringing life and jobs to this part of the country."