A BUTCHER with branches in Harleston and Long Stratton has been crowned the sausage king of the county.Some of Norfolk's top producers took part in a hotly-contested Battle of the Bangers at the Forum in Norwich on Saturday, part of the Bidwells Norwich and Norfolk Food Festival.

A BUTCHER with branches in Harleston and Long Stratton has been crowned the sausage king of the county.

Some of Norfolk's top producers took part in a hotly-contested Battle of the Bangers at the Forum in Norwich on Saturday, part of the Bidwells Norwich and Norfolk Food Festival.

And after hours of tasting, members of the public and professional chefs alike reached the same verdict, crowning Spurgeon's champion sausage.

The company, based at Brooke, was established in 1925 by Frank Spurgeon and still makes its sausages to his original recipe.

Managing director Anthony Spurgeon, Frank's grandson, said: “I'm amazed and delighted to have won. We've had some very stiff competition from four of the best butchers in Norfolk.”

Last year's winner, Archer's of Norwich, did not defend its title this time and Mr Spurgeon admitted that had it been competing: “It would have been a close call.”

Spurgeon's, which also has branches in Harleston, Long Stratton and Norwich, sells about a tonne of its sausages a week. The exact recipe is a closely-guarded secret, but Mr Spurgeon said: “We use good, clean shoulder of pork and our sausages have a meat content of 82 per cent.

“A lot of people like the texture and there's a bit of an after-burn, too, because it tends to be a bit spicy.”

Spurgeon's won both categories in the competition, having been named experts' choice by the professional chefs taking part in the John Lewis Cookery Theatre, and the people's choice, voted for by the public.

The winner's rosettes were handed over by Stephen Plume, a teacher from Brockdish, dubbed the “Sausage King”.

Mr Plume rides around the UK on a Triumph motorcycle, sampling sausages and writing about his adventures on his own website.

“I go to a lot of sausage competitions and often find it's easy to make a decision but here I found it very difficult,” he said.

“All the sausages had their own merits and it was tough.

“It's such a delight to come back to Norfolk which I think has some of the best sausages in the country.”