After a morning of talking Sausages with 17 regional radio stations followed by an interview with The Evening Standard, Simon Rimmer popped along to the Sausage Pop-up shop in Spitalfields Market. He joined Master Butcher Keith Fisher and Sausage Sommelier, Shaun Vining, to judge the final three London and South East Butchers regional cook-off heat.

Simon Broadribb (left) receives his golden Banger Award from Simon Rimmer

A close call but one had to win and after much deliberation and a second tasting, it was decided that Uptons of Bassett were the champions with their Traditional Pork Sausage. At the awards lunch in Smiths of Spitalfield, a delighted Simon Broadribb went up to collect his golden Banger Award from Simon Rimmer [pictured right].

Then followed the multiple retailer awards who after two rounds of judging also received the following Banger Awards.

• Gold - Waitrose 6 Pork Sausages with Caramelised Red Onion Confit
• Silver - Marks and Spencer Grill Posh Dogs
• Silver - Waitrose 12 Pork & Herb Chipolatas Seasoned with Rosemary & Thyme
• Bronze - Tesco Finest 6 Pork Cheddar & Onion Sausages
• Bronze - Asda Butchers Selection Cocktail Cocktails

The pop-up shop open from 10am to 4pm also saw visitors from Red Tractor and the Sausage King, plus hundreds of sausages were cooked up by Judy and Jane from Ladies in Pigs for sampling by the general public and visiting media. Also on hand was resident sausage expert, Shaun Vining, from his Devon butchers shop where he produces award winning sausages of his own. Known as the Sausage Sommelier, he was extolling the virtues of a traditional pork sausage and explaining what goes into making a good sausage.

Sausage sandwich drops to London Radio

The following stations also received sausage sandwiches to help support the launch event and to encourage people to visit the pop-up shop. Capital FM, Heart, Gold, Smooth, XFm, BBC London 95.9 (and TV), Kiss FM and Magic.

National Press coverage over the weekend included: The Daily Express – with a feature on British Sausage Week in William Hartson’s '10 things you never knew column using the sausage' factsheet [click here]. Plus there has been regional press coverage of the finalists attending cook-offs this week.