KEIGHLEY Cricket Club will host a beer festival to kickstart a £40,000 fundraising campaign for an ambitious development project.

This weekend’s festival will raise cash for both essential improvements and maintenance at the ground off Hard Ings Road.

The planned improvements at the 168-year-old club include new terracing, changing rooms and disabled toilets.

Committee member Paul Barker said: “We have an iconic pavilion dating back to 1869 and one of few of its type left in the West Riding, so it’s essential for us to carry out regular maintenance and upgrade projects.

"The proposed improvements would result in a high-quality centre for sporting and social activities accessible by all communities in Keighley.

“We provide cricket facilities for a whole range of ages and diverse ethnic backgrounds as well as function rooms and meeting areas.”

The beer festival will be held on Saturday and Sunday, October 15 and 16, from noon to 5pm.

There will be six beers from six breweries including Naylors, Bridgehouse and Wishbone, and a barbecue. Tickets cost £10 a day, including four pints.

Mr Barker said members hoped the public would support the beer festival, whose profits would all be pumped back into the club.

He added: “Fundraising is such an important part of Keighley Cricket Club, it is how we sustain activities and develop the club for future generations.

“Grants are available to us but they are limited so we have to find other ways of generating income to ensure the ground is up to standard and the buildings are safe, warm and accessible to all.”

Tickets for the beer festival can be bought before the event, by calling Paul Barker on 07949 135728 or Rory Robinson on 07852 961818.