A CORSHAM chocolate maker and a Brinkworth dairy producer won coveted Champion titles at this year's Taste of the West Product Awards.

The Champions, which included Lick the Spoon and Brinkworth Dairy, were announced at a lavish ceremony in Exeter Cathedral together with the winners of the 2016 Taste of the West Hospitality and Retail Awards.

The awards, now in their 23rd year, celebrate the best food and drink across Wiltshire, Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset and Gloucestershire and are a benchmark across the region.

Wiltshire not only produced 44 Gold Awards, but Brinkworth Dairy's Brinkworth Blue Cheese was named Champion Cheese while Lick the Spoon's The Bish took home the coveted Supreme Champion product.

Matthew Short of Lick the Spoon, who has been entering the awards for ten years, said: "We just didn't think we would win and we were speechless for about thirty seconds when we found out. We should have twigged really because they sat us near the front around all the corporate sponsors when normally we are at the back!

"We won the Champion chocolate across the west and we thought that was it, so we sat through the final annoucements with our heads down waiting to congratulate the winners and then they said it was The Bish. We were just astonished - it was fantastic and the best day ever."

The Bish, which was created in honour of the Bishop of Gloucester, is the first time a chocolate has been named a Supreme Champion and the first time a Wiltshire producer has won the award.

Judges were also impressed with the Brinkworth Blue cheese which earned the Champion Cheese award and was described as "an incredibly complex, charismatic and dense cheese that punches well above its weight."

Ceri Cryer of Brinkworth Dairy said: "Brinkworth Blue has been slowly working its way up the prize leaderboard. Its first ever award was bronze at the British Cheese awards. Everyone on the farm cares about the cheese and works hard to get it right.

"It starts with Steve spreading the muck on the fields and feeding the cows making sure he balances their diet so the milk has the right constituents for us. Ro selects bulls to breed with our cows to make healthy long living cows. Joe, Danny and Alex milk the cows calmly and keep the cows healthy to give us clean milk.

"Our cheesemaker, Lewis, works hard to consistently produce this excellent fruity tasting cheese all year round. Lewis even works during nights to ensure a continuous supply of cheese even in the school holidays when childcare comes first."

For more information on the winners of the Taste of the West Awards visit www.tasteofthewest.co.uk.