A VILLAGE butcher swept the board in a sausage-making competition this week.

Mr Arthur Fawcett, of A V Fawcett and Sons of Ingleby Greenhow, took unprecedented first and second places in both pork and beef categories of the competition.

The annual event was organised by the Northallerton and district butchers' association. Association members entered from the Masham, Thirsk, Northallerton, Great Ayton, Stokesley and Bedale areas.

Mr Fawcett, who runs the family business with his brother, John, was surprised by the double success.

"I'm not sure why we have done so well this time. There was nothing special about the sausages in as much as they were just picked out from the normal batches we make for our customers."

Mr Fawcett said his beef was sourced from local farms, including his own. During the foot-and-mouth crisis he had to obtain his pork supplies from a wholesaler.

The sausages were judged for their cooked and uncooked appearance as well as their taste. Judges were Mr Kevin Hardisty, environmental health officer at Hambleton District Council; Mr Robert Blacklock, a divisional trading standards officer with North Yorkshire County Council, and Mr Malcolm Warne, editor of the Darlington & Stockton Times, and his wife, Sylvia.

l The Yorkshire lamb producers' club sponsored the association's recent trade dinner held at the Lodge, Leeming Bar. The club donated the legs of lamb as part of a promotional campaign for Yorkshire lamb