AN Avon Street butcher is fast becoming renowned for his 40 or 50 different flavours of sausages he and his wife produce each week.

Dave and Lisa Purser have been running The Master Butcher, in Evesham, since 2002 with just help on a Saturday and produce far more than the nation's favourite British banger.

And despite working some weeks with no break, Dave is proud that customers travel great distances to purchase his prize winning products.

"For instance, I have a customer from London who comes up every other week for his favourite flavours and a local Bulgarian woman who busy the Bulgarian sausages I make. The Italian sausages area really popular and just fly out," he said.

And the proof of the quality of his products is in the recent awards he has gained at the Foodex NEC Birmingham competitions.

He entered eight different products winning seven golds with traditional thick pork, smoked bacon and asparagus, and rosemary and garlic sausages; BBQ beef burger, Guinness beef burger, smoked bacon and asparagus pork burger, and tomato and basil pork burger. Their smoky BBQ pork burger won a silver.

"I was one of 48 Butchers who entered from all over the country and a total of 382 products were entered. I am very proud of my achievements as I was representing our region of the Vale. Even though we didn’t win any trophies this time against stiff competition we managed to score equal scores as the winners in some of the categories.

"This competition follows on from other great results we have had when two of our Sausages (Cotswold Pork and Smoked Bacon and Asparagus) won "Sausages of Distinction” gold awards last November in British Sausage Week in a blind tasting."

The Master Butcher also took three golds last November in the Staffordshire and Birmingham agricultural society “English Winter Fair Produce" competition for tradition pork, smoked bacon and asparagus and Moroccan lamb.

"I am very proud to promote our great vale at these Competitions to show case Evesham," he added.