Record profits for Belhaven beer

Belhaven Best is a top-selling beer

Dunbar-based brewer Belhaven made record profits of £30m last year, it has revealed.

Belhaven - which produces beers including 80 Shilling, Best and St Andrews Ale - was bought by parent company Greene King for £187m in 2005.

While Belhaven's profits rose, the Greene King group as a whole saw annual pre-tax profits fall 15% to £118.5m.

That figure was better than many analysts had expected and the company said current trading was encouraging.

However, in a statement the group said it was cautious on the outlook for Belhaven.

It said this was "mainly due to the risk to Scottish public sector employment levels as we move in 2010".

Greene King also owns the Loch Fyne restaurant chain, which has 49 branches in the UK including the original at Loch Fyne and one in Edinburgh.