EVESHAM consumers were advised on the benefits of buying local produce during an event at a supermarket.

The promotion at Evesham's Safeway in Davies Road was mutually beneficial for both the store and local growers, raising customers' awareness of the variety of local speciality fruit, plants and vegetables available there.

Martyn Wilson, produce manager of the Evesham branch of the store, said: "Safeway have been selling local produce for years but this was not well known."

Lee Nuttall, of Bomfords, one of the participating companies, said: "It's a chance to do something positive about boosting the market of local produce."

Among the sights were perennial garden plants from Pro-Culture, Victoria plums from Dunsby's in Childswickham, and runner beans, marrows and peas from Bomfords.

Perhaps the most exciting attractions were the unusually large spring onions, famed for causing a stir on Channel Four's Big Brother series, contributed by Simms and Woods.

Mr Nuttall added: "I hope supermarkets will begin to buy more local produce and adhere to the seasons of native fruit and vegetables, rather than import from abroad."