A WORCESTER butcher has been named category champ-ion at the East Midlands Regional Roadshow and Product Evaluation Event.

H Dayus Family Butchers produced a top quality dish of pork in orange sauce to gain a gold award and take top spot in the ready meal category.

The event, which was organised by the British Pig Exec-utive (BPEX) and took place at the East of England Showground, Peterborough, saw a total of 36 butchers entering 170 products for evaluation into 10 categories.

Craig Saunders of H Dayus, which also took a gold award for its lamb provencal, said: "Achieving a category award is great - it will really help us drive our business forward. We have about 30 different varieties of ready meals on sale in the shop. We launched the meals three months ago.

"I think it's a product that's really going to increase in popularity over next few years, as people with busier lives tend to have less time to cook for themselves."

Keith Fisher, BPEX butchery and product development manager, said: "This was an excellent day all round and our congratulations go to all the butchers who took part and, in particular, the category champions. We were delighted to see such a great turnout and the standard of entries was very high."

The Product Evaluation Event recognises and rewards product excellence and innovation among butchers. The judges look at the overall appearance of the product as well as colour, texture, size taste and smell.