A DAMSON delicacy has won a Swaledale company a plum national award from one of the country's biggest supermarket chains.

The Garden House shop and pottery, tucked away in a corner of Reeth, has been chosen as the Waitrose small producer of the year.

The annual awards recognise excellence and innovation among small food producers and are open to companies employing fewer than ten people.

They are divided into three categories - produce, grocery and drinks - and the Garden House won the grocery section as well as taking the overall award and total prize money of £10,000.

Jane Davies and her husband and business partner, Ray, travel to Stoneleigh in Warwickshire in early July to receive their award at the Royal Show.

"We are still three feet off the floor," said Mrs Davies. "We entered the competition after seeing it in the Waitrose Food Illustrated magazine but we never dreamed we would win."

The Garden House is best known for its damson cheese, made by Mrs Davies and sold in pots made by Mr Davies in the pottery.

The prize money would allow them to buy in extra damson supplies from Westmoreland and secure additional storage to enable them to meet demand for the damson cheese, which outstripped their ability to supply.

"We are also thinking about developing new products from the very good by-products that we get from the manufacturing process," said Mrs Davies.

There are also plans for different sized pots and other pottery products linked to the damson theme.

Mrs Davies praised Waitrose, which has no northern stores, for its pioneering attitude towards small producers.

"Their magazine doesn't only cover their own products and it is amazing that a company as big as that even looks at people like ourselves, who are simply not big enough to supply them. Yet they are happy to support very small producers in this way."

Mrs Davies said the Garden House would also benefit from business advice and guidance offered by Waitrose experts as part of the award.

"We can make use of people with expertise in marketing, packaging, new markets, etc and we will have all that at our fingertips now," she said.

The competition attracted entries from all over the UK. Jocelyn Clarke, responsible for local procurement at Waitrose and one of the judges, said: "It was wonderful to find so many small businesses with a passion for regional food.

"The three section winners all submitted high quality products which were truly innovative. They had a real sense of vision for the future and intend to invest their prize money to further strengthen their businesses.