Appleby Creamery is celebrating after bringing home six major awards couresty of its handmade cheeses.

Located in Eden Valley, the creamery rolled out several winners this summer, notably its Eden Smokie, which clinched gold at the Mid-Somerset Show in August.

The Nanny McBrie and newly-introduced Grilling Cheese, a Halloumi-style variety, also secured Gold accolades.

Grilling Cheese additionally triumphed as the best newly-launched cheese at the Great Yorkshire Show at Harrogate.

The business also bagged the title of 'Best Specialist Artisan Cheesemaker' at the Mid-Somerset Show.

Operations manager Tom Jackson was presented with the Sean Wilson trophy from esteemed cheese judge, Kerry Love.

Their Eden Smokie took the runner-up spot in the Smoked Cheese segment of this year's Virtual Cheese Awards.

Appleby Creamery is set for even more potential wins with four awards due to be announced towards the end of October.

Managing director Maurice Walton said: “We are delighted at this year’s success, which was made possible by the dedication and hard work of our team of young cheesemakers.

“To celebrate these achievements, we plan to launch a special award-winning cheese selection box in the run up to Christmas so that everyone can taste the winning cheeses.”

Mr Walton's pride was equally mirrored by Penrith and The Border MP, Dr Neil Hudson, who recently toured the Appleby Creamery.

Penrith and The Border MP Dr Neil Hudson paid a visit to the creamery, which employs 17 staff.

Dr Hudson said: “Encouraging jobs, investment and exciting innovators into the local area is one of my top priorities as a Member of Parliament. To better do that, I find it so useful to get up close to a local business, discuss challenges and successes, and take these discussions back to Westminster.

“I thoroughly enjoyed meeting the team at Appleby Creamery. Their flourishing business is a bastion of best practice when it comes to sustainability, local sourcing and quality. I am proud to advocate for Appleby Creamery in Westminster and the host of trailblazing independent businesses thriving here in Penrith and The Border.”

Dr Hudson took a tour of the site, including the new facility that has been created to be used as a 'Maker Space'.

This space is part of a UKRI-funded project, the Digital Dairy Chain, aiming to put Cumbria, South and West Scotland on the world map as a leader in advanced, sustainable and digitally connected dairy manufacturing.