The hot summer sun last year failed to dent the harvest for one of the county's top distilleries.

Chatham-based Copper Rivet Distillery grows wheat, barley and rye on Sheppey.

The crops are then used for its range of gin, vodka and grain spirits.

Matthew Russell, co-founder of the company, said: “These locally-grown cereals give us both quality and traceability; and the spent grains, left over after the distillation process, go back to the farm as top-notch food for their herd of Aberdeen Angus Cross beef sucklers.

"The rye, wheat and barley have had most of their natural sugars extracted during our brewing process; but once the spent grains are mixed with a blend of molasses, chopped wheat straw, maize sileage, grass silage and biscuit meal, it creates a delicious cake of which any top chef or nutritionist would be proud.”

The 2018 harvest defied earlier worries that the scorching summer would lead to shrivelled grains, low tonnage and indifferent quality.

In the event, the 2018 yields for Copper Rivet Distillery were 2.5 tonnes an acre for the spring-sown barley; three tonnes per acre for the wheat; and 2.3 tonnes an acre for the rye.

This was similar to yields and quality in 2017.

Copper Rivet’s range is available widely in Kent; and through Harrods, Selfridges, local Waitrose, and other outlets.