DAILY baked bread, scones, cakes, quiches and pies, as well as tempting puds and patisserie make the Angel’s Share bakery a delight for the senses.

Alex Franks’ artisan bakery at the Station, Richmond, has even impressed TV judges to win her a place in a regional final of culinary talent competition Britain’s Best Bakery on ITV.

Alex Franks, from Patrick Brompton, has run the Angel’s Share at The Station, Richmond, for six years and has previously run a Darlington deli.

As well as the bakery, Mrs Franks also runs the Angel’s Share Pasta Shop next door – a homage to all things Italian including sauces, pesto, homemade pasta and olive oils.

She creates freshly cooked ready-meals that can be heated up at home, complete with salads and desert dishes.

Mrs Franks’ love of bread came from a year of living in Germany while studying German as a degree.

She said: “In Germany they love their bread and that really stayed with me.

“After my degree I worked in London in banking but whenever I came home to North Yorkshire I would help my mum in her catering business.

“I started doing more with her until I left banking altogether and joined the business catering for weddings and events – it gives you such a buzz and I worked just as hard and as long hours as I did in banking.”

Mrs Franks was pregnant with her first son Louis when she looked into opening the Angel’s Share.

“I took it on when he was 11-weeks-old and just before Christmas – and I still had another wedding to cater for in between Christmas and New Year so it was very busy.”

Along with her baker Di Dinsdale and her mum, Gillian Ives, Mrs Franks’ regularly concocts new bread ideas, with recent specials including a bonfire night loaf with baked beans and sausage, a lemon and dill bread, and a father’s day bread with sausage and brown sauce.

But her favourites are her classics – the Lancer rye loaf; Richmondshire loaf, which is white with rye and polenta on top for a crispy finish; and the Brompton bread, made with buttermilk.

Her Cumberland ham, sage and apple pie is also a winner, having featured on ITV’s Britain’s Best Bakery and impressing judges Mich Turner and Peter Sidwell.