A butcher from Cornwall has won gold medals at the 2017 Butchers Q Guild Smithfield Awards.

Williams & Son Butchers in Wadebridge, Cornwall, came away with the incredible haul, which was three gold awards higher than last year.

The awards were open to all 123 members of the guild, and a total of 267 awards were given out.

The offerings were judged blind by independent panels of international experts, and products were then shortlisted for the national final in each of the ten product categories.

Winners were announced at a ceremony in Ironmongers Hall in London, when the awards were presented by acclaimed British food writer and critic Tom Parker Bowles.

Tom said: "A town or city without a proper butcher is town without a heart.

"But all of you here today are masters of meat, heroes of the haunch, legends of the lamb chop and you don't do this for the prospect of a quick and easy buck.

"I know exactly how hard you all work, the long, gruelling, often freezing cold hours.

"The sawing, the cutting, the slicing, the lugging around of great carcasses, the constant attention to perfect hygiene, the sheer physical hard graft, the depth of knowledge and years of pure experience necessary which becomes the very essence of carnivorous good taste.

"Now this might not be or seem like a glamorous job, but we love you for it.

"What would we do without you? Great butchers are no mere make or trade, it is a part, a passion, a labour of love.

"It is a community hub and a place, of course, where lots of good gossip can be shared and spread as well."

Mark Turnbull, Q Guild national chairman, said: “The record response this year was absolutely amazing and reinforced the Guild’s decision to change the Smithfield Awards format and make the awards early in the year.

"This year’s presentation event also attracted a record attendance.

“The new format allows all winners to promote their products and their businesses for a full 11 months within the current year of the awards, which - supported by special promotional packs presented to all gold award winners - will, we feel, prove an extremely potent and effective marketing tool.

“In addition, many entrants also tell us that the judges’ feedback proves invaluable in helping them not only to enhance their own Smithfield Award products, but also develop and launch even more successful ones after networking and sharing ideas with other members, which remains key to the Q Guild’s ethos.”

Williams & Son Butchers won the gold awards for their Pork, Plum and Mulled Wine Sausage, Pork, Cranberry and Orange Sausage, Cornish Blue Steak Burger, Cajun Burger, Sweet Chilli & Garlic Burger, Sweet Cured Bacon, Dry Cured Bacon, and Williams Finest Back Bacon.