A culinary rapeseed oil is now in demand nationally.

Oleifera was the brainchild of farmer's wife Jill McGregor when looking for a diversification scheme on the family farm at Coldstream, in Northumberland.

Only months after its launch, it is now being sold across the UK.

Mrs McGregor said rapeseed had not traditionally been widely used until the launch of her product.

"It is widely used abroad, but had not really taken off in the UK, yet in Scotland and the North-East we grow rapeseed very successfully," she said.

"As a product, it ticked all the boxes for health benefits, local provenance and low air miles."

Twelve neighbouring farmers invested in a research and development project and formed Borderfields Ltd in October 2005.

A shortlist of 14 varieties were pressed in May last year and chefs and experienced cooks selected the best. A focus group helped test the results.

The first bottles were sold in Northumberland last November, but the 20 cases a week were snapped up by existing customers, leaving none for new outlets.

A new and bigger press boosted production and now the company has a full-time sales and marketing manager and three full-time staff including Martin Quince, the country's first full-time rapeseed oil presser.