THE makers of Cumbria's famous sticky toffee pudding are celebrating after baking their way through a quarter of a century.

Cartmel Sticky Toffee Pudding is marking its 25th birthday this year with the launch of a special anniversary pack on their hand-made, take home puds.

The last two-and-a-half decades has seen the business grow from humble beginnings in the back of the village post office - where founders Jean and Howard Johns first made and sold their first take-home version - to selling around one million desserts each each year.

"It's been 25 years since my parents took over the village shop and now everybody knows about our Sticky Toffee Pudding," said son Simon Johns. "They were the first people to make this as a ready meal to take home and it took off them."

After taking on the the village's convenience store at a time when the dynamic of weekly shops was changing due to the arrival of big supermarkets, the former owners of the King's Arms and At Home, in Grange, decided to cook up traditional date pud alongside a toffee sauce for treat lovers to take home.

"My dad took out samples to shops around the area and got some orders," he added. "He took them out in the car, then got a trailer, then a horse box and then a van - it just grew organically and now Cartmel is synonymous with it."

And as his parents take on a lesser role after 25 years of graft, Simon is stepping up to the plate after relocating from Los Angeles where he sells the same delicious dessert to Americans.

The Lake District business creates a whole range of award winning desserts and sauces.

Anniversary sleeves can be found on the 250g and 390g Cartmel Village Shop Sticky Toffee Pudding packs.