A LONG-ESTABLISHED sausage and pie maker has been taken over by a leading food firm.

Beef processing company Irish Food Processors (IFP) has bought WA Turner, which operates two factories in Broadwater Lane, Tunbridge Wells, for an undisclosed sum.

WA Turner employs around 500 people in the town and has been trading for more than 150 years. It specialises in chilled savoury pies, flans and sausages, suet puddings and frozen sausages.

IFP, with an annual turnover of more than £1bn, is the parent company of Anglo Beef Processors (ABP) Group which includes a number of businesses making own-label food products for supermarket chains.

W A Turner chief executive Mark Roberts will stay on in the role. He said: "Our products are in a fast-expanding area of the market and moving into the ABP Group will give us the additional financial strength and skills to fully exploit our potential."

A spokesman for Anglo Beef Processors said: "The Turner operation fits perfectly into our group strategy. This acquisition confirms our commitment to expanding our interest in consumer-ready products and to investing in the UK food market."

W A Turner started as a butcher’s shop in Stowmarket, Suffolk, and has been based in Tunbridge Wells since 1970. It is now one of the UK’s leading pie and sausage makers. In 2003, it was bought out by its management from then parent company Prize Foods.