A Wharfedale brewery has unveiled a £400,000 scheme to revitalise one of Otley’s oldest pubs.

The Pool-in-Wharfedale-based WharfeBank Brewery is teaming up with national pub operator Punch Taverns to turn The Fleece, in Westgate, into one of the region’s landmark inns.

Building work has already started and the project will involve creating three distinct parts to the pub and clearing the beer garden to create an outside drinking area that stretches down to the River Wharfe.

WharfeBank Brewery, which only started up last spring, is also planning to use The Fleece as a showcase for its own, growing range of beers and to stock other ales from similar brewers across the UK.

Managing Director Martin Kellaway said: “Our vision is to make The Fleece one of the region’s finest pubs. I’ve often driven past thinking what a great pub it could be, and one that the whole community could be proud of.

“Now we’ve got the chance to turn dreams into reality and we’re really excited about this fantastic opportunity.

”We’ve got some fantastic plans in place to make The Fleece a showcase of all that is good and great about Yorkshire in terms of food and drink.

“We’ll be offering all of WharfeBank’s beers and giving customers a chance to have their say on our new brews, as well as offering beers from other like-minded brewers from the four corners of the UK.

“The Fleece is a beautiful building surrounded by some stunning scenery so we’ve kept that in mind when thinking about the renovation. We want to work with the building whilst also adding a few modern touches here and there.

“A key area for us is the beer garden which will be completely transformed. As long as I’ve known The Fleece the beer garden has never been used, so we are going to clear the area so customers have access to the river.”

He added the pub also aimed to use locally sourced produce, wherever possible, when it came to its different food offerings during the day.