A FORMER Eden bank has been transformed into a new butchers and deli.

Husband and wife team Steve and Jennie Allison took over the lease of the HSBC bank in Appleby just nine weeks ago and have been busy reconfiguring the interior to create a traditional butcher’s with a contemporary twist.

As well as showcasing meat from the family farm and other local producers, there are pies and pasties freshly baked by Jennie, and a mouth-watering larder of locally sourced provisions.

The launch of Low Howgill Butchers & Deli has been a family affair and three generations of the family marked the official opening with the cutting of a pie.

It is five years since Jennie’s parents Jane and John Taylor began selling meat from their Low Howgill farm.

Trading as Low Howgill Traditional Meats, they wanted to offer consumers traditional British breeds of beef and lamb, home grown on their farm. Demand for ‘quality meat with provenance’ grew and from 2012 the family began attending farmers' markets.

In 2013 Jennie's husband Steve joined the company as full time butcher - learning from his father who ran his own butchers shop in the North East.

Whilst keen to continue supporting local markets, Steve and Jennie had an appetite to grow and were keen to find a permanent retail base.

The bank, in the middle of Appleby, was the perfect location and, for the first time, they are now able to work together as butcher and baker from one location, opening to the public six days a week.

As well as running the shop in Appleby, Steve and Jennie will still continue with their stalls at Keswick Market, Penrith Farmer Market and Kirkoswold Farmers' Market.