A FAMILY business supplying free range eggs has just sold more than a million in a record-breaking week.

The milestone event at the Potter family's Yorkshire Farmhouse Eggs business and their Village Farm packhouse at Catton, near Thirsk, marks spectacular growth in demand for free range eggs guaranteed to have been laid and packed in Yorkshire.

"Demand for our James Potter Yorkshire Farmhouse free range and organic eggs has been growing steadily over the last five years, but last week was special," said sales director Adrian Potter.

"We had a surge of orders that took us through the million-eggs-a-week barrier for the first time. Mind you, we all had to work until midnight last Friday to get the job done."

He has now had time to calculate that if last week's throughput of eggs was laid end to end it would stretch for 42 miles, equivalent to the length of the Lyke Wake Walk which crosses the North York Moors from Osmotherley to the coast.

He attributes the demand to a growing interest in, and appreciation of, high quality locally-produced food.

"Consumers want to know where their food comes from, and the more local the better. It is good to see some of the supermarkets making a point of sourcing locally-produced food," said Mr Potter, whose family were pioneers in commercial free range egg production and on-farm packing.

Karen Todd, head of local sourcing at supermarket group Asad said: "Our customers have been going mad for Yorkshire Farmhouse free range eggs since they were introduced as part of our Best of Yorkshire range."

Mr Potter said the growth of the business would not prejudice the traditional principles the family had adhered to since its first free range flock was established more than 20 years ago.

"We are still the only significant producer in Yorkshire dedicated to Lion quality free-range and organic egg production, and with a packhouse that is a no-go area for battery eggs," he said. "Instead of amalgamating our flocks into large units, we stick with the traditional smaller sheds that encourage the birds to roam and pick up that all-important taste to the eggs."

Last week's record throughput was made possible by a recent £1m investment programme which included extending and re-equipping the on-farm pack-house to British Retail Consortium Higher Level Certification. The investment included a new £300,000 Diamond grading line and related packaging equipment to handle a throughput of up to 350,000 dozen eggs a month, up 20pc on last year.