A PIONEERING North-East hen farmer proved himself an all-round good egg after whisking away with a national award.

Good Egg Fellas, based in Sadberge near Darlington, was named British Free Range Egg Producer of the Year at ceremony in Birmingham run by the British Free Range Egg Producer's Association.

The business, which has 16,000 hens and produces over five million eggs a year, has been running since 2009 and was one of the first to sell eggs online.

Phil Twizell started the business because his customers wanted to know where their eggs came from and wanted to be able to speak directly to the person who looks after the hens.

he said: "Provenance and freshness are extremely important to our customers who range from bakers, catering companies, hotels and restaurants.

“We are delighted to receive our very first award today in recognition of our approach to egg production."

Good Egg Fellas, who employ five staff, supply most of their online egg sales to customers in and around the London area and they are packed and dispatched on the day they are laid for next day delivery.

Mr Twizell said: "The welfare of our hens is our main priority and we ensure they are happy hens because, happy hens lay happy eggs.

“We receive excellent feedback from our customers so we know we are getting things right and the award today is further recognition of that which I am delighted about."

Myles Thomas, chairman of the British Free Range Egg Producers Association, said: "Phil's business is a prime example of doing the job well and managing the business for survival into the future."