WORCESTERSHIRE sauce is Britain's top food export.

The sauce - still made in the original Midland Road factory off Wyld's Lane, Worcester - has had more of an impact on worldwide cuisine than any other food in Britain, according to a new survey.

The survey, carried out by carried out by UKTV, saw 3,500 people vote Worcestershire sauce as the top food export, followed by Cheddar cheese and Yorkshire pudding.

The decision has been labelled as no surprise by lovers of the versatile sauce in the Faithful City.

Joan Hinks, aged 74, of Checketts Lane, who got involved in a campaign to save Worcestershire sauce two years ago, said: "It's no surprise Worcestershire sauce has come out on top. I just think it's so versatile.

"I'm in the kitchen now and I've got a bottle of Worcestershire sauce on the side by the salt and pepper. When I'm cooking something, I often think it would be nice to put some sauce on it.

"I've been eating it for 50 years or more, certainly for most of my married life."

Maura Redmond, 70, of Astwood Road, a big fan of the sauce, said: "Worcestershire sauce adds flavour to absolutely anything, I use so much of it all the time. It's thrilling that it has come out on top.

"I first came to Worcester in 1965 and have used it a lot since then."

A spokesman for Lea & Perrins said: "It's a fantastic result for Worcester, and it just goes to show that Worcestershire sauce is a flexible kitchen essential. We're delighted with the result and it really does pay tribute to the product."

Two years ago, the Worcester News ran a campaign to save Worcestershire sauce after a food scare. Hundreds of items were taken off the shelves after it was discovered banned dye Sudan 1 had been used in a rival brand.

Recipe was brought to Worcester from India

THE Lea & Perrins brand of Worcestershire Sauce, which outsells its closest competitor by about two to one, traces its history back to 1835, when Lord Sandys, a local nobleman, returned from a stint in India with a recipe.

Lord Sandys reputedly asked the owners of a local chemist shop, John Lea and William Perrins, to make up the sauce from the recipe.

The two men are then believed to have prepared "a few gallons" of the sauce, which they left in the cellar after finding it too unpalatable to consume, but stumbled across the jars some time later to find its taste had matured pleasantly.

Lea & Perrins, which is matured for up to three years prior to sale, is now distributed to more than 130 markets around the world.

Its global popularity was established during the 19th century - a bottle of the sauce was found during excavations in New Zealand in the 1970s of a city which was destroyed by an earthquake in 1886.

Worcestershire Sauce was first sold commercially in 1837 and granted a Royal Warrant by King Edward VII in 1904.

The High Court ruled in 1906 that while other firms could market Worcestershire Sauce, only Lea & Perrins could declare its product as "the original and genuine" - a slogan which is still found on its bottles.

In 1942, the War Department, using emergency powers, took possession of the Lea & Perrins factory in Midland Road, Worcester.

The vaults were occupied by the Royal Army Ordnance Corps as a depot for vehicle and tank parts but a small area of the factory was kept secure for the making of sauce.

The ingredients of the sauce include vinegar, molasses, anchovies, onion, garlic and tamarind.