Beer, sausages and a former police station all formed part of a special visit by a royal visitor today.

The Princess Royal was in Ilkley this morning for a look at the secrets behind two of the town’s most successful businesses and then travelled to Keighley to open the new £1.1m civic centre.

She began with a visit to the Ilkley Brewery, in Ashlands Road and was given a tour of the facility, which was only opened last year.

Princess Anne spent an hour at the brewery discussing the business with directors Stewart Ross, Chris Ives and Richard Shelton and was shown how the award-winning beer is made.

She also unveiled a plaque on the company’s new, sixth fermenter, which will enable the brewery to produce up to 40,000 pints a week.

The brewery also presented the Princess with two selection boxes of beer- one for herself and one for her father, Prince Philip and crowds were on hand to greet the royal visitor.

“This was a huge honour for the brewery and for the town and we are tremendously proud to be part of the Royal celebrations,” said Mr Shelton.

“The Princess’s visit has been eagerly and enthusiastically awaited and it was particularly rewarding for all of us here at the brewery to be chosen specifically and personally for this occasion.”

However, the Princess did admit some of the “mystique” of brewing had been removed by her visit.

The Princess Royal then headed to the award-winning Lishman’s butcher shop, on Leeds Road, run by David Lishman, where she was shown how the official Yorkshire sausage is made, and tried some of Lishman’s own salami and ham.

The princess was introduced to local suppliers and customers, including a beef farmer, catering managers of two primary schools and representatives of an Ilkley care home. She unveiled a commemorative plaque at the rear of the shop, watched and applauded by local families who turned up in the street outside to catch a glimpse of their royal visitor.

Lishman’s presented her with a hamper of locally-produced fare.

During her visit to Keighley, the princess toured the old cells at the former police station in North Street, which has undergone a £1.1million transformation into the town’s civic centre.

The cells have been turned into a police museum with displays of weapons and crime scene reconstructions.

Princess Anne spoke to children from schools including University Academy Keighley, who were learning about forensics science in the centre's mock laboratory.

The Princess Royal went on to unveil a plaque in the centre's function room - formerly a courtroom - watched by around 100 representatives of local organisations and businesses.

She praised Keighley Town Council for succeeding in the "challenging" task of bringing a historic building back into use.

"You seem to have assembled everything in this building to bring a civic society together,” she said. “I hope all ages will enjoy it."