In an age when it is thought village butchers are a dying breed - one butcher from an old mining community is making a big impact on the Channel.

Aylesham Butchers won the hearts of the locals with their cuts. Now travellers on Norfolk Line’s Dover to Ostend crossings can enjoy tucking into their tasty pork sausages - all 600kg a week.

The fresh produce from Aylesham Butchers has become so popular with the ferry firm that the butchers now supply its catering team on a regular basis.

Owner Paul Sharp, who was approached last year to supply Norfolk Line, said: “When we first started it was a mountain to climb. Norfolk’s sausage order alone is around 600 to 700kg a week. We have now geared up for it with more machinery and a larger truck.”

With three ferries to service, orders are substantial and each ferry requires two deliveries a week.

Mr Sharp said: “To cope we have had to take on three more people, and good butchers are hard to find today.”

Paul quotes the old jibe about supermarket butchers. “I asked one what cut of meat he was serving. ‘Topside’, he said.

"How do you know? I asked.” “'Because it says it on the box’.”

His team start at 4.30am, filling orders for an ever growing number of restaurants, pubs, and now, retirement homes.