A MEAT company is set to sell more than 15,000 of what many consider to be an essential component of a traditional Christmas dinner.

Wensleydale-based Yorkshire Dales Meat Company expects to distribute thousands of pigs in blankets and chipolatas to professional kitchens across the North East and North Yorkshire this Christmas, as well as around 8,000 turkey escalope with stuffing.

The catering-butcher company sells the ready-made cocktail sausages wrapped in bacon to chefs looking to cut back on preparation time without compromising on quality at what is their very busiest time of year.

James Knox, finance director at Yorkshire Dales Meat Company, said: “If you think about how long it takes to prepare pigs in blankets for a family of, say, six people, then think how long it would take chefs to prepare them for a whole restaurant full of people throughout the festive season.

“We’re here to make chefs’ lives easier - which is especially important at what is a manic time of year for them - and the turkey parcels are a great time-saver as well, and delicious too.”

Yorkshire Dales Meat Company has been making high quality sausages for the restaurant and catering trade for nearly a decade and sells at least 44 metres - 400kg - of sausage to its customers across the Yorkshire, the North East and the rest of the North of England each week.