STOCKTON South MP, Matt Vickers visited Yarm based Butchers and farm shop Hutchinson Hobbs to celebrate their fifth Birthday.

Mr Vickers wanted to give his thanks to H&H for both their wonderful services over the last five years, both for customers and their links to many of the local farms on Teesside but also for what the work they have done during the coronavirus outbreak.

The award-winning farm shop has stayed open during the entire crisis in order to continue to supply residents with locally sourced produce, largely brought about by the people of Yarm emailing and writing into Hutchinson Hobbs to request they remained open for business.

Owner Barry Hutchinson said: “The staff have been fantastic, in all honesty there was a lot of nervousness to start with. How do we social distance whilst providing a personal service? But we have found our rhythm and it has been even more rewarding feeding the local area during this difficult time”.

The butchers have had to recruit a further five members of staff during lockdown in order to meet demand.