A MULTI-award-winning Kirkby Lonsdale butchers has been celebrated in the community after it was named as Britain’s Best Butchers Shop.

Dales Traditional Butchers Ltd, located on Market Street, received several accolades last week and was named as the best in the nation by Meat Magazine.

Owned and operated by Mark Duckworth, the proud owner of shop credited his success to his old school approach to the industry as well as his years of experience in the meat trade guiding the shop.

Mark said: “We’ve had a very successful time of it. We won the best small producer last year and we were highly commended this year at the British Pie Awards.

“Just over a week ago we were named as Britain’s Best Butchers Shop and it was the first time, we’ve won it.

“Things like that don’t come round very often in this business.”

On September 9, the butchers shop won the top prize at the Meat Management Industry Awards, with the added treat of having football legend Kevin Keegan presenting Mark with the trophies.

Mark added: “We were honoured that someone had nominated us and after that the judges sent in some private independent judges who would come into the shop to test us.

“I got told we had been shortlisted and then got to speak with one of the top guys in the industry who interviewed me about the finals.

“Having it presented by Kevin Keegan was just fantastic. Me and the team all went out for a celebration on Saturday.

“I’ve been working here for 22 years and I’ve worked in the trade since I was 13.

“I’ve done so many roles, including working on the production line, shop work and the factories.

“This is a great shop and I’ve got a great team behind me. It’s things like this that really motivate them and its great to see them rewarded for what they do.

“Hopefully we’ll see more of these in the future. We like competitions and we love bringing out new products for them.

“We are looking forward to next time. It’s always a good day out the British Pie Awards."