HALF-year profits at pork group Cranswick have soared after a surge in demand for gourmet sausages.

Cranswick, which owns Thornaby, Teesside, sausage company Lazenby's, said its quality hams and sausages, aimed at the delicatessen market, had been the main source of growth at its Cranswick Country Foods arm.

Coupled with a range of new products for the retail sector, sales across the food business jumped 20 per cent, to £68.6m.

This helped push group turnover for the six months to September 30 up 14 per cent, to £102.7m, while pre-tax profits jumped from £4.4m to £6.6m.

The strong showing in the food arm compensated for a tougher time in the firm's agriculture business, which was affected by the foot-and-mouth crisis.

Cranswick, based in Driffield, East Yorkshire, rears, slaughters and trades in pigs. It also makes animal feed. The group said the trading environment had been "particularly challenging".

As the amount of pigs in the UK fell - by 16 per cent over the past year - the volume of feed that Cranswick sold slipped by six per cent, while traded pig numbers were off by 13 per cent.

Turnover in the division did, however, edge ahead three per cent, at £24.3m, because of higher feed selling prices.

Sales at the group's pet division were up nine per cent, at £9.8m.

Shareholders will receive an interim dividend of 5.5p per share, a 22 per cent increase on the last half-year payout