THE race to crown The Northern Echo's Best Bakery in Darlington and County Durham is now well and truly on.

With our ten finalists announced, we will be featuring each one of the next ten days – and readers can vote for their favourite to win.

Today we meet Simon Kershaw of The Leas Bakery, in Thompson Street East, Darlington.

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Named after a neighbouring street name, The Leas, the Kershaws have run the bakery for three generations.

Simon said: "I took the business over from my dad, and he took it over from his dad – Norman Kershaw started the business in 1960.

"Before he had this shop he had somewhere out of town and then moved to here."

Simon said he started working in the bakery as a child, and learned the trade from his dad and grandad.

The bakery is renowned for its traditional cakes and pies.

Simon said: "There are two other bakers, who start at 4am to get all the products ready for the day.

"We do lots of cream cakes, Japanese buns, Eccles cakes. We always use proper fresh cream too – lots of supermarkets don't use the real thing.

"We do lots of seasonal specials at Easter and Christmas which are always very popular."

Simon said he was still passionate about running the bakery, and was proud to come from a line of bakers.

He said: "Our customers are fantastic. Many remember my dad and a few remember my grandad, and have seen me grow up here. We have a lot of regulars and it is great to be recognised by them."

To vote for your favourite bakery, cut out the voting slip in The Northern Echo and return it by post to Suite 10, Second Floor, Coniscliffe House, Coniscliffe Road, Darlington, DL3 7EE.