HAWES-based Wensleydale Dairy Products has launched a range of new cheeses to coincide with Wallace and Gromit's first full length feature film, The Curse of the Were-rabbit.

Inspired by the veggie theme of the movie - as well as the Plasticine heroes' quirky outlook on life - the forward-thinking product development team at Wensleydale have dreamed up three unusual and delicious new cheeses that form the basis of a new gift range: l Wensleydale with Carrot and Orange is a sweet tasting cheese with a great kick of zesty orange and caramelised carrots, very popular with children.

l Leicester with Leeks is a well-rounded cheese teamed with the slightly tangy onion flavour of leeks.

l And Cheddar with Cherrybell Peppers and Sun-dried Tomatoes is a cheddar complemented by the sweet, full flavour of sun-dried tomatoes and piquant cherry bell peppers.

"Our new flavours might sound a little unusual," said Wensleydale sales director Phil Jones, "but we're past masters at blending cheese with new flavours. We launched the first Wensleydale with Cranberries in 1995 and now it's a best seller."

New blends' include Wensleydale with Papaya and Mango and Wensleydale with Ginger and Lemon.

The company celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2002 when it reintroduced the manufacture of Real Blue Wensleydale' to Hawes creamery.

Until the 1920s, Wensleydale cheese was almost entirely recognised as the blue-veined cheese we now know as Blue Wensleydale.

The old-fashioned, matured Wensleydale made in the farmhouses through the dale during the late 19th and early 20th century would naturally have blued'. However, as cheese was made on a factory scale in the mid-1900s and beyond, the white, crumbly variety became the fashion and the blue variety became extinct in the dale.

WDP revived the manufacture of the old fashioned type of Wensleydale by emulating old traditional recipes.

Blue Wensleydale is lightly pressed for only 24 hours before being bound in a muslin bandage. It is then transferred to a humidified maturing room where the cheese is turned regularly, pierced to facilitate blue mould development and matured for at least six weeks.

It has a delicate but full flavour, not strong or acidic, with a honeyed aftertaste.