MINCE PIES made by a North Yorkshire bakery gained top scores in independent taste tests - for the ninth year running.

Helmsley-based Thomas the Baker, which has shops across the county, including ones in York and Selby, is proud of its mince pies.

A group of 15 students at Thomas Danby College, Leeds, nibbled samples from five suppliers. Each pie was marked for taste, filling, freshness, pastry and fruit quality.

The clear winner was Thomas the Baker with 528 points, followed by Marks & Spencer with 479 points. Third place went to Tesco with 453, Morrison with 425 and Sainsbury's with 419.

"It is important for a family baker like ourselves to test our products against those of the nation's leading food retailers," said Simon Thomas, director.

"We are particularly proud of our traditional luxury mince pies and the recent taste test shows that we are still maintaining our position. Once again, all the team members in our bakery and shops are delighted with this result.

"We expect to sell around 300,000 mince pies during the Christmas period so that will certainly keep our bakery team busy."

Updated: 10:54 Friday, December 03, 2004