More than 2,000 luxury Teesside scotch eggs will be included in VIP hampers at major sporting events this summer including Wimbledon, Royal Ascot, Henley Regatta and a test match at the Oval.

David and Christine Laing of the Clucking Pig company near Saltburn first unveiled their gourmet scotch eggs at the first annual Saltburn Food Festival in 2013, and have since become hugely popular with thousands of foodies across the North East, North Yorkshire and beyond.

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David, whose eggs have previously graced the dining tables of Windsor Castle, said: “We got an email completely out of the blue from British Fine Foods. They’re artisan hamper specialists who cater for some of the biggest occasions you can think of, and we’d been recommended by some of our previous customers.

“We sent them a few examples, which were taste tested by chefs at Wimbledon and Royal Ascot, and that was that. Incredible really.”

The couple are based at their Grewgrass Lodge smallholding, on the outskirts of Saltburn and Redcar, and have remained true to their original ethos of only using free-range eggs (from Wensleydale) with rare-breed and free-range pork from Yorkshire.

“Our ethics are vitally important to what we do, and all our scotch eggs are individually handmade with love and passion right here at Grewgrass,” said David.

“So it’s a real honour to be part of these specialist hampers for what looks like a very exciting summer ahead.”

It’s a summer that will be topped by what David, who was born in Saltburn, describes as his favourite day of the year, as the busy couple are looking forward to bringing them to Saltburn Food Festival again this year, when it returns after a four-year break on Sunday 30 July.

“Saltburn Food Festival is an absolutely fantastic day,” he said. “I love the place and it’s far and away my favourite day of the year. It’s great to see the festival back after a four-year break, and we know all the other traders love it too.

“In fact, it was festival director Lorna Jackson who came up with the brilliant idea of gourmet scotch eggs in the first place, and it’s absolutely just flown from there.”

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Lorna said: “David and Christine never cease to amaze me. They’ve been regulars at Saltburn Farmers’ Market since 2011, when they began selling eggs from their smallholding just up the road. But switching to gourmet scotch eggs at our first festival in 2013 saw them properly capture the imagination of foodies all over the country.

“They really typify all that’s good about the fab local food producers we have right on our own doorsteps. Like all our other food and drink artisans, they put so much love, pride and passion into what they do, and we’re really looking forward to seeing them and many more besides in Saltburn on Sunday 30 July.”