A package of financial backing has been provided to a start-up brewing business that is on course to achieve its ambitious growth plans.

The boss of the WharfeBank brewery, which operates from an old paper mill in Pool-in-Wharfedale, near Otley, hopes to be brewing 17,000 pints a week within a year.

The new brewery has been partly funded by an £85,000 Enterprise Finance Guarantee loan from NatWest and a rural development grant from Yorkshire Forward, the regional development agency. NatWest’s asset finance arm Lombard will offer £30,000 of funding for delivery vehicles.

Martin Kellaway, founder and managing director of WharfeBank Brewery, has collaborated with businessmen Nigel Jowett and Stephen Bullock on the project.

They have recruited Ian Smith, a former head brewer at Tetley’s brewery in Leeds, to help create their brewery.

Mr Kellaway is a former director at the Caledonian Brewing Company, brewers of Deuchars IPA, and also played cricket for Somerset and Hampshire.

He said: “I have set about creating my vision to build a hand-crafted, innovative premium cask brand and one of out three core beers, CamFell Flame, won the beer of the festival at the recent Leeds CAMRA beer festival. I have a passion for properly- brewed ale and it’s important to me to know that it has been produced locally. I’m delighted to have created WharfeBank and hope to build it into a brewery that the area can be proud of.”

In the summer Mr Kellaway announced plans that could see his company’s turnover triple in four years. The WharfeBank Brewery was launched in April and is selling 100 casks of ale a week to pubs within a 50-mile radius.

The business is on-track for a first-year turnover of £250,000 and Mr Kellaway believes it can achieve £750,000 turnover by 2014.

He said: “We launched in April and there has been lots of interest. Each week we have sold more than the previous week.

“We are currently selling 100 casks a week and are turning over £6,000 a week. We produce casks for the licensing trade at present, but we are looking to start bottling the product for the supermarket and export business in 2011. This project has always been a vision of mine. We’ve got such a rich brewing heritage here in Yorkshire and we’ve tried to convey that “We’ve thought about every aspect of the beers from how they taste down to the look of the pump clips and we’re really happy with the results.”

Tony Wales, Natwest business development manager, said: “Being a real ale fan myself, I’m delighted to have been able to assist the WharfeBank team get this off the ground.”