The owners of a butchery in Aylsham say they're 'humbled' to have been named the best in the East of England.

Coxfords Butchers has just been announced as the regional champion butcher for the east in the Countryside Alliance Awards.

Johnny Payne, who runs the business with Jason Gibbons, said: 'We're absolutely amazed. It's a lovely accolade to win – we're overwhelmed really. It shows our customers we're trying our best to give them the best. I'm proud for the staff as well. All of us make up a team, from the two backroom guys, to our respective partners who help with the business.'

Johnny puts the success of Coxfords down to provenance and his and Jason's drive to do something a bit different.

'We're got lots of different meals people can take home that are easy, rather than them having to stand and cook for hours,' he said.

The range is all made with high quality, locally-sourced meat including Tim Allen's pork, beef from Chris Blaxhall, chickens from Diss and lamb from up the road at Great Houtbous.

It includes beef truffles (burgers stuffed with chimichurri sauce, spring onions, red onions and mozzarella), chicken kievs filled with creamy garlic sauce, and molten sausagemeat bombs stuffed with mild pepper sauce and rolled in chives.

The team even make lower-fat options for slimmers, including a variety of stir fries and chicken sausages (less than 5% fat) in flavours such as chorizo, or hickory and chipotle.

Regular sausages are made to a 100-year-old recipe handed down through the shop's previous owners. The award-winning sausagemeat is used in the team's homemade sausage rolls and also in the Norfolk Nobbler which is filled with Candi's Parsnip and Chilli Chutney, with a donation to Marie Curie for every pound in weight sold.

Coxfords will now attend the finals of the awards at the House of Lords on April 25.