Hawkshead Relish has won a national award, beating off the likes of Asda and Tesco.

It was one of only 44 firms across the country awarded gold at the FreeFrom Awards for its Worcester sauce.

The sauce was in the store cupboard category of the awards, held at the Royal College of Physicians.

The awards, founded and run by FreeFromFoodsMatter, celebrate the innovation and imagination shown by the food industry in creating foods that are free of wheat, gluten, dairy, eggs, nuts, soya, sulphites and other allergens.

Maria Whitehead, co-owner and director of Hawkshead Relish, said: "We are thrilled to win a gold award in the Store Cupboard category.

"Our Worcester sauce is most definitely a staple for any home cook and has so many diverse uses in any number of dishes.

"We understand better than most the issues people can face with regards to allergies and intolerances, so for us it just made plain sense to craft products that everyone can eat.

"As a company from the very outset we took a conscious decision to make sure that everyone could enjoy what we produced, which is why everything we produce is freefrom.

"It’s not a fad, it’s really important to us and this recognises the lengths we have gone to over the years to ensure that everyone has access to what we make.’’