THE humble bacon sandwich took centre stage at St Peter’s Church Bacon Buttie Festival at the weekend.

Hungry residents gathered in March High Street for the annual festival on Saturday to try a variety of sandwich combinations such as cheddar, brie, dijon mustard and hummus.

Some were even brave enough to try the churchwarden’s own Chilli Challenge - a baguette filled with bacon and topped with the churchwarden’s fiercely hot chilli sauce.

The festival seemed to strike a chord with residents gasping for something hot to eat while out shopping - the Church took a record �801, more than it has made from full scale summer fairs.

Organisers sold out of bacon butties within three hours, showing the Church’s barbecued creations were just too delicious to miss.

Churchwarden David Collison said: “We normally do a summer fair at this time of year but decided to do something a bit different.

“We got a very good reception and there was high demand for our bacon sandwiches.

“There was much enthusiasm and we raised more than we have from a full summer fair.”

He added the event could become a regular feature even during the winter months as “the church always needs to raise money to keep it upright”.

Organisers insisted it wasn’t all about the food, with a book stall, cake competition and even a human fruit machine to keep people occupied, but it was the bacon freshly barbecued over charcoal that morning that stole the show.