TELEVISION food guru Loyd Grossman had more on his plate than he expected when he visited a North-East museum yesterday.

But he had no problems with performing the task of reopening the Anglo Saxon farm at Bede's World in Jarrow, closed since the out-break of foot-and-mouth disease in February.

He then gave his seal of approval to fiendish food prepared by Bede's World chef, Bridget Boyd.

She used her ingenuity to combine traditional Halloween fare - such as pumpkin and potato soup - with such spookier treats as Beef Ghoul Ash, Devilled Chicken, Death by Chocolate, Vampire Soup, and Bat out of Hell.

Catering manager Ms Boyd said: "As well as a varied standard menu, we serve food for special occasions.

"Our Ghoulish Food for Halloween has been really popular. We will be serving Anglo-Saxon food at the beginning of December and our menu of Christmas specials will start on December 10."

Museum finance manager Margaret MacQueen welcomed the reopening of the Anglo Saxon farm.

She said: "It has been closed since February 24 as a precautionary measure. We have had to await the all-clear from Defra."

Admission prices, halved while the farm was closed, have now returned to their normal levels.

Ms MacQueen said: "Hopefully we will now be able to recoup the losses we have suffered during the foot-and-mouth crisis.