A Paignton brewery has enjoyed a wonderful night at the inaugural Federation of Small Businesses Awards for Devon.

Bays Brewery scooped the top county title and also the award for best new business at the glittering awards ceremony at The Palace Hotel in Torquay on Friday 6 June.

The company began in March 2007 when Will Freeland, Mark Salmon and Peter Salmon joined forces and signed a lease on an old 5,000 square foot steel fabrication unit in Paignton.

The transformation began towards the end of March and by the middle of June, after some considerable construction and installation works, the firm was running its first brew through the 20-barrel brew plant.

The first two brews, Best and Gold, were successfully launched into local pubs simultaneously in the first week in July.

Collecting the prize from Sally Wilcox, BT's South West regional director, Will and Mark were told that the judges had been unanimous in their decision to make the company the county winner.

Ms Wilcox said: "They have put innovation into their product and achieved success in a very competitive market, competing with some of the cheap products in supermarkets."

Will, a former head brewer at Truro's Skinners Brewery - described the double triumph as "just brilliant".

In other awards, The Old Bag Company in Kingsbridge won the accolade for enterprise and Chulmleigh's Fox and Hounds Hotel scooped the prize for innovation.

Delia Colegate, Devon regional organiser for the FSB, said: "It was a wonderful evening, the awards recognised the best of small businesses in Devon and gave the finalists and the winners a platform from which to share and celebrate their achievements."

She added: "A huge vote of thanks must go to our sponsors who supported the awards and gave a great deal of time to the process and we are all grateful to all the businesses that applied, they are all winners!"