A SPECIALITY food business launched 15 years ago in a converted 19th Century barn is about to expand with the help of European funding.

Elspeth Biltoft set up Rosebud Preserves at her farm at Healey, near Masham, and now the company produces 20,000 pots of jams, chutneys, jellies and marmalades each month.

It has outgrown the main building, where 50 products are made, bottled, labelled and packed by a team of eight.

Work is under way to turn stone outbuildings adjoining the barn into a large kitchen with a dry storage area, a refrigeration room and an extension to allow for a deep-freeze facility.

Ms Biltoft said: "We started in 1989 with just eight different products, and while the range has grown considerably over the years, we have stayed in the same building.

"The kitchen is downstairs and packing and labelling is on the first floor, so we have to hoist the trays of filled jars upstairs by means of a static lift, which is not ideal. The barn floor also drops 24 inches from one end to the other, and the steps prevent us from using trolleys."

Her office will move upstairs and there will be a new reception area when the work is complete in September.

The changes have been made possible with a £30,000 grant from the European Regional Development Fund, secured through the economic development unit at North Yorkshire County Council.

Carl Les, the executive member for business services, said: "Rosebud Preserves is one of the best examples we have of a rural business that has gone on to enjoy national and international success."

As well as supplying to about 200 stockists in the UK, including Liberty of London and the Black Sheep Brewery, Masham, Rosebud Preserves exports 25 per cent of its products to the US, where they are sold in quality food shops including in New York.