TASTY pork pies baked at a Kirkby Lonsdale butchers' shop have made the upper crust at a competition.

The prize for champion small pork pie was won by Dales Traditional Butchers, whose shop on Market Street is run by master butcher Mark Duckworth.

The golden-crusted, meat-filled delicacy also went on to win reserve supreme pork pie champion at the 29th Great Yorkshire Pork Pie, Sausage and Products Competition, staged in Harrogate.

Representing the Kirkby Lonsdale business at the event was young up-and-coming butcher Ira Collier.

"It's our everyday pie, one made to our own recipe that continues to be a real favourite with customers," said the 23-year-old of the winning recipe.

Ira has worked at Dales Traditional Butchers for six years and has already made an impact in his chosen profession. Last year he won the title of champion young sausage maker in a national meat trades contest.

He returned to Kirkby Lonsdale with a clutch of awards from the 2017 Great Yorkshire Competition, having also finished third in four other classes - speciality cold eating pie, thin pork sausage, speciality sausage and beefburger.

Mark Duckworth told the Gazette: "Ira has worked for us since the age of 16. He loves his job and is a great all-rounder, a real credit to the business. We were at a family celebration on the day of the competition, so I just left him to it. We’re really chuffed for him. It’s really good for the shop too."

Ira was given the Willis Hall Cup for pork pie excellence by Valerie Hall, whose late husband, the Leeds-born playwright, was a fan of the pie competition and acted as judge.

This year's competition attracted 165 entries from butchers, farm shops and bakers around the country. The supreme pork pie champion was Wharfedale butchers Geo Geo Middlemiss & Son.

Meanwhile, George Taylor, who runs the butchery department at Country Harvest, near Ingleton, was also among the prize winners.

He came runner-up in three classes - thin pork sausage, black pudding and beefburger. He took over the shop's butchery department in January 2014, and was the 2014/15 Meat Trades Journal UK young butcher of the year.

In 2015 he was the reserve supreme sausage champion at the Great Yorkshire Competition.