OWNERS of a Sidmouth butchers are celebrating after they scooped two accolades at a prestigious awards ceremony on Tuesday. Hayman s Butchers was given the Best of Bacon, Burgers and Sausages Award and the Best of Meat Award at the Taste of the West Award

OWNERS of a Sidmouth butchers are celebrating after they scooped two accolades at a prestigious awards ceremony on Tuesday.

Hayman's Butchers was given the Best of Bacon, Burgers and Sausages Award and the Best of Meat Award at the Taste of the West Awards 2008 sponsored by Musgrave Retails Partners GB.

Held at Powderham Castle, the well known chefs and brothers Chris and James Tanner presented a total of 22 awards at the ceremony.

Stuart Hayman said: "It was a really nice surprise and we are over the moon. We thought we might have won something but to win two best of category awards was unbelievable.

"It was a very nice ceremony and was well attended. The lunch consisted of all of the winning products and we thoroughly had a good time."

The Best of Bacon, Burgers and Sausages was a new award this year and the judges said Hayman's excelled in this category and their faggots in onion gravy were a "cracking product".

The second award won by the butchers was for their corned beef which judges described as having "a fresh aroma and a great depth of flavour".

The local butchers have had a very busy year as they have won a number of awards including eight gold awards and seven silvers at the Foodex Meatex trade show at Birmingham in April and a Best in Category for their gammon steak.

Stuart added: "We've had a bit of a problem finding space for all of the awards. "We've put eight certificates in one frame so we can fit all of them!