A SPECIALIST cheese making company in the Dales is just months away from gaining protected food status for product that is a firm favourite with two of the country’s best-loved animated characters.

The Wensleydale Creamery, based in Hawes, has received Government support in its fight to secure a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) for its Real Yorkshire Wensleydale Cheese.

The creamery has been working closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to gain the status for the cheese, which is so loved by Wallace and Gromit.

With the backing of the Government, the application has now been submitted to the European Commission for validation by the bureaucrats in Brussels.

There will now be a six-month window for objections to the application from other EU countries.

If the application is successful, it will give the cheese brand the same brand protection as Melton Mowbray Pork pies and Parma ham.

“Applying for PGI status will protect the integrity and provenance of our cheese and elevate it above, and differentiate it from, manufacturers outside the region,” said managing director David Hartley.

“We strongly believe it is important to use EU protection to safeguard the only Wensleydale cheese made in Wensleydale.”

It is a success story for the 18-year-old firm, which began when national company Dairy Crest closed the Hawes Creamery in 1992 and left its 59 employees redundant.

Mr Hartley led a management buyout with 10 others and nurtured the brand back to health.

The company now employs more than 200 staff and puts £11m a year back into the economy through salaries, milk payments and purchases – and was the winner of The Westmorland Gazette’s 2010 Business Of The Year Award.