BOOMING sales have forced a North Yorkshire cheesemaker to introduce a seven-day working week.

Shepherd's Purse of Newsham, near Thirsk, saw demand leap by 28pc in the year ending on March 31 and expects it to rise a further 37pc by the same date next year.

The family business specialises in blue and ewes' milk cheeses which are stocked by supermarkets, delicatessens and specialist cheese shops.

But the three leading cheeses - Mrs Bell's Blue, a traditional blue made from ewes' milk, Yorkshire Blue and Yorkshire Feta - also appear on the menus of Eurostar, British Airways and many leading restaurants.

This year Shepherd's Purse has also won awards at the Nantwich cheese show and the Royal Highland show.

Mrs Judy Bell, who heads the company, said they had been working to full capacity to keep up with demand for some time. "But we are now going into a seven day week in anticipation of Christmas sales," she said. My husband, Nigel, has been getting up at 3am to start off production before going out onto the farm."

The family team includes son, Justin, who is production manager, and daughter, Katie, who is sales and marketing manager.

Three other full-time employees and several part-timers are also pulling out all the stops to make sure demand is met.

The cold storage facilities were recently expanded and the dairy re-equipped to the highest standards. Now plans are at an advanced stage for further expansion of the production facilities, but the cheeses are still handmade to the recipes developed by Mrs Bell on her kitchen table.