ANNA Valley pig farmer Martin Martindale has known it all along, but now his peers have officially recognised that he makes good sausages!

Well, his pork, pear and ginger variety to be precise. The Martindale favourite has just scooped the gold award in the Farmers' Market category at The Great Hampshire Sausage Competition held recently.

"We're rather new to the game actually," says Martin, who along with his wife Dawn, runs Greenfield Pork Products in Anna Valley.

"We entered one type of sausage last year and got a highly commended, but we took it a lot more seriously this year and we picked up four awards for the four varieties we entered," he said.

Alongside the gold award were three silver awards for other sausage flavours.

The Martindales have been rearing pigs for the last 14 years and have built up a popular and highly-respected business in that time. "We've sold our products to pubs and shops for a while but have only sold direct to the public for the last four years," said Martin.

"It's obviously helped being able to sell at the farmers' markets and we're sure this tradition will continue," he added.

Martin and Dawn have been supporters of the Hampshire Farmers' Markets since their inception four years ago.

"There were pilot schemes in Winchester and we held a few at Weyhill and in Andover which were very successful.

"Access was a problem at Weyhill so they moved permanently to Andover in the last couple of years, and they're now the second biggest in the country behind Winchester," said Martin.

"Nearly 6,000 people visit the farmers' markets in Andover each time which is a fantastic number.

"On a personal level it's very satisfying when customers come up to you and say how good your products are and that they can't get the same quality elsewhere," said Martin. Andover's farmer's markets will now have a monthly date in the town from Sunday 16 March.

The March event will also be a themed day in support of Comic Relief.