A SPECIALITY black pudding created by Mrs Doreen Haigh has won second prize in the Great Yorkshire Pork pie and sausage competition.

Her black pudding, made at Haigh's butchers on the Dalton industrial estate and baked without the usual skin, was a hit with judges.

She has also won a gold award from the Guild of Fine Food Retailers.

Mrs Haigh, a grandmother, is part of the second-generation family business.

Originally based at a village butcher's shop in Kirklington, the business moved to Dalton shortly before her husband, Arthur, died.

"We used to have a mobile shop as well as the village one, but we had outgrown our previous premises with the development of our speciality products so we moved here," she said.

The idea of making black pudding without skin came from her grandmother.

"When we were little and times were hard, everyone in the village had a pig. When it was killed, the meat went to market and the women made wholesome products from the leftovers and everyone benefited.

"We tried putting the ingredients into skins but ended up with more on the roof than in the covering - so the recipe was adapted to bake it in tins," she said.

This process makes the black pudding taste much stronger as a lot of the moisture is baked out during cooking so that the flavours are concentrated.

Nowadays, Mrs Haigh can't make enough of the speciality.

Right: Mrs Haigh prepares

another batch of prizewinning black pudding - D&S