YORKSHIRE pudding makers could win the same protection afforded to Champagne and Parma ham producers to stop rivals from outside the county cashing in on the famous name, a regional food group says.

The Sunday roast favourite could win European rights, meaning they must be made in Yorkshire or Humberside if they are to be labelled as such.

Three manufacturers – including the popular Aunt Bessie brand – were in talks about applying for special status.

The application was supported by the Regional Food Group for Yorkshire and Humber, which says a centuriesold recipe could hold the key to a successful bid.

Sarah Knapper, the group’s research and development director, said Yorkshire puddings were first named in an 18th Century recipe by food writer Hannah Glasse, and that her puddings differed from other similar dishes.

Winning protection would benefit Yorkshire producers and boost sales, said Ms Knapper.

News of the bid came days after rhubarb producers in the county won similar special status.

Ms Knapper said: “It would prevent people anywhere else in the world from making it and calling it Yorkshire pudding.”

She said restaurants elsewhere in the country offering a Sunday roast might have to refer to Yorkshire-style puddings on their menus.

But she added: “The recipe is made by so many people, that this could be a hurdle to the bid.”

In the past, bids to win special protection have failed if a food’s geographical name has become generic, rather than a description of where it was made.

More British manufacturers are being encouraged to win protected status for their food products as the country lags behind Italy and France.

Items so far on the British list include Cornish clotted cream, Whitstable oysters and Stilton cheese.

Newcastle Brown Ale won special status, but then shifted brewing from Tyneside to Yorkshire.

The listing can mean more cash from Europe to promote regional food and legal support to protect the name against imitations.

Ms Knapper said cooks from outside Yorkshire would never be prevented from calling their own creations Yorkshire puddings, but commercial producers would be.

“If people make them for themselves, they can call them whatever they like,” she said.

Councillor Derek Adamson, of Thirsk Town Council, said: “I think it’s one of Yorkshire’s greatest exports and a staple dish across the UK.

“Anything that promotes Yorkshire is a good thing. I definitely wish them the best of luck with this.”

Andrew Pern, from Whitby, owner of the award-winning Star Inn in Harome, near Helmsley, North Yorkshire, has backed the bid.

The 40-year-old father-offour said: “Obviously, Yorkshire pudding tastes better when it’s made by a Yorkshireman.

It’s all in the wrists, I think. We take the mickey out of people in the kitchen who make them if they are not from here.

“They are known worldwide and are something great for Yorkshire as a county.”