Malcolm Pyne of the North Petherton Pyne’s of Somerset triumphed in the prestigious Sausages of Distinction competition during British Sausage Week.
After being named the best sausage maker in southern England by the National Federation of Meat Traders, Malcolm is now representing the West Country in the national final.
The competition to find Britain’s best sausage is led by AHDB, the government-run food and farming development agency and has attracted more than 500 entries from independent butchers and farm shops across the country.
Malcolm, whose staff at his North Petherton shop turn out more than 12,000 sausages a week, said British Sausage Week was taking the competition to a new level.
He said: “I’m delighted to have got this far and now all I can do is keep my fingers crossed.
“But on a wider issue I’m also delighted that the competition has attracted so many entries, because that’s a reflection of the new interest in sausage-making in this country and the fact that the British sausage, which used to be an international laughing-stock, can hold its own against any similar product from any other country.
“There’s no magic formula behind ours. All we do is use the same finest, free-range pork in our sausages that we sell as joints or chops.”