A BROADWAY firm specialising in the production of coloured eggs has won a major cash award.

"It is very exciting because it is the second such award in two years," said Janet Lee Woolf, of Clarence Court Ltd, based at Coach House Farm in the village.

The HGCA Enterprise Award carries with it a £15,000 grant to help market two unique types of egg.

The eggs are produced by two strains of free-range hen, the Flamingo Pink and Mabel Pearman's Burford Browns, bred exclusively by Janet and Philip Lee Woolf.

Organised by the Home Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA), with support from the Meat and Livestock Commission and Food from Britain, the award scheme aims to find and promote new market opportunities to increase consumption of UK cereals.

The Flamingo Pink eggs are various shades of pink to pure white, while the Mabel Pearman's Burford Browns lay very dark brown, heavy eggs.

Both had been developed as much for their high quality and flavour as for their unusual colour, explained Mr Lee Woolf.

"The Mabel Pearman's eggs have a fantastic flavour, one that older generations may remember but will present a new experience for younger consumers," he said.

"The Flamingo Pink eggs are also very high quality and we think that younger consumes will find them good to eat and great fun.

"Both types of egg have hard shells, the yolks are bigger and both the yolks and the whites are denser than any other commercially produced eggs, making them feel very heavy." He attributed the quality of the eggs to the strain of hen, the exact breeding being a closely guarded secret, fed on a purely natural vegetarian diet.

"All our hens live in quite small flocks, they are free to roam on good quality pasture and they are fed on a specially formulated diet, 80% of which is UK-grown wheat."

The award will be used to develop new packaging and promotional material for the two products, as well as enabling the company to promote the eggs at shows and exhibitions.

Last year's award was used to launch the pastel coloured eggs of the Old Cotswold Legbar, now available in most large Tesco and Waitrose stores.

Mr Lee Woolf said: "Last year's award was a tremendous help.

"It made all the difference when launching such a new and different thing."