A “perfectly produced” beef skirt and vegetable pasty has triumphed at the British Pie Awards.

Produced by Cumbrian butchers A. F. Huddleston, the pasty made mincemeat of competition from 815 sweet & savoury pies and pasties, to win the title of Supreme Champion.

Held at St Mary’s Church in Melton Mowbray, the eighth annual championships saw pies from 132 producers judged across 20 categories including Chicken, Dessert and Melton Mowbray Pork Pie, with a Class Champion chosen in each case. The winner of each category then went forward to compete for the title of Supreme Champion.

This year’s competition was the first to run during British Pie Week, and saw a marked growth in entries from small producers. A prize for Best Overall Small Producer went to The Wheatsheaf, an Essex-based pub, who triumphed in the Steak & Ale Pie category.

Matthew O’Callaghan, chairman of the British Pie Awards, said: “I know many will be surprised to see a pasty winning the British Pie Awards, but the definition of a pie is a filling totally encased in pastry – pies come in all shapes including round pies, square pies and pasties.

“Pasties have been a feature of British cuisine for centuries ranging from the Forfar bridie in Scotland through to the Midland’s Bedfordshire clanger, and down to the iconic Cornish pasty. I’m pleased that we now have an award-winning pasty to shout about from Cumbria.

“The winning pasty was outstanding. It looked so appealing; an even bake with a beautiful glaze and a perfect crimp. Eating it was a delight, well balanced flavours, tender meat, small chunks of vegetable and a delicious gravy with just the right amount of seasoning. One of the best examples of a perfectly produced pasty.”

The theme of the Speciality Class this year was Pie Fit For a Queen, which celebrated the Queen’s upcoming 90th birthday on 21 April. It was won by Walker & Son’s Marks & Spencer Victorian Corset Pork & Chicken Pie.

Here is the event in pictures:

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Powered by Cincopa Video Hosting for Business solution.British Pie Awards 2016Supreme Champion John Nicholl of A.F. Huddleston Butchers (left) with his winning pastyflash 16cameramake SONYheight 2624orientation 1camerasoftware Photos 1.0.1originaldate 3/10/2016 8:42:10 PMwidth 3936cameramodel ILCE-7M2Andy Saunders of The Wheatsheaf, winner of the Small Producer awardflash 16cameramake SONYheight 2624orientation 1camerasoftware Photos 1.0.1originaldate 3/10/2016 8:48:54 PMwidth 3936cameramodel ILCE-7M2This year’s Specialty Class celebrated the Queen’’s upcoming 90th birthday and was won by Ian Heircock of Walker & Son (left)flash 16cameramake SONYheight 2624orientation 1camerasoftware Photos 1.0.1originaldate 3/10/2016 8:38:09 PMwidth 3936cameramodel ILCE-7M2While the awards were announced on Friday, the judging took place on Wednesdayflash 16cameramake SONYheight 2000orientation 1camerasoftware Adobe Photoshop CC 2originaldate 3/8/2016 8:48:41 PMwidth 3008cameramodel ILCE-7M2Stephen Hallam (left), one of the event organisers, with deputy head judge Hugh Weeks at Wednesday’s judgingflash 16cameramake SONYheight 1312orientation 1camerasoftware Photos 1.0.1originaldate 3/8/2016 3:30:20 PMwidth 1968cameramodel ILCE-7M2One of the pies was decorated with hornsflash 16cameramake SONYheight 2000orientation 1camerasoftware Adobe Photoshop CC 2originaldate 3/8/2016 9:01:53 PMwidth 3008cameramodel ILCE-7M2