A BUTCHER from Alveston has won a ‘Banger Award’ in British Sausage Week’s celebration of the great British banger.

Mike Perry from Perry & Son Butchers won the award in the innovative category for his Bristol Blue Sausage, which contains blueberries, at the awards event on Thursday, November 6.

British Sausage Week’s celebrity ambassador Phil Vickery, former England rugby captain and Celebrity Masterchef 2011 winner, was on hand to preside over the awards after a fierce cook off event at The Townhouse in Clifton.

Commenting on the innovative sausage, Phil said: “I loved the blueberries and in this sausage the subtlety of them really worked well. They left lovely hints of sweetness without being overpowering - a fantastic, all round sausage."

Mike Perry, said: “The sausage came about some years ago when a farmer friend of mine asked me to get involved with a radio programme he was doing and look into making a sausage for the radio.

“They put a request out to their listeners to come up with a name for the sausage and that's where Bristol Blue came from.”

British Sausage Week, now in its 17th year, ran from Monday, November 3 to Sunday, November 9.

The annual celebration aims to raise awareness of the great variety, quality and all round tastiness of British sausages that are being produced today.

2014 was a bumper year for entries with just over 200 butchers entering almost 500 sausages up and down the country.

To celebrate British Sausage Week, independent butchers and supermarkets alike will be running events and special offers, and local pubs and restaurants will also be offering special sausage themed menus.

For those looking to experiment with sausages at home, there is a new British Sausage Week recipe booklet, ‘Celebrating our love of the Great British Banger’, available from participating high street butchers or to download from www.britishsausageweek.com

Visit www.britishsausageweek.com or the Love Pork Facebook Fan Page http://www.facebook.com/lovepork.UK for recipes and further information about the week.