SUPPLIERS from North Yorkshire have featured at the first of a series of events organised by supermarket Morrisons to promote British produce.

The company is running The Nation's Local Foodmakers campaign to find high quality, locally sourced produce so it can extend the ranges it stocks.

It has invited suppliers to pitch at 12 regional events, with the first held this week in Keighley, West Yorkshire. Those with stalls included Masons Yorkshire Gin, of Bedale, and Sloemotion of Malton, both North Yorkshire.

Morrisons launched its campaign after a report from the University of Leeds, commissioned by the company, found that only 50 per cent of all food eaten in the UK comes from British farms.

*This week the Office for National Statistics said an increasing number of gin drinkers and vegans has led to the popular tipple and items such as oat milk being added to Britain's inflation basket. The list is used to calculate CPIH, the headline measure of inflation.

Gin returns to the basket after a 13-year absence following a rise in consumption and after a growth in the number of small gin producers.