A farming family which produces rapeseed oil is celebrating winning a good food award.

Carol and Paul Wain grow rapeseed – a plant which blooms bright yellow for three weeks each year – at their farm in Gawsworth.

They turned their hand to the production of rapeseed oil a year ago when Carol, who worked as a mortgage advisor for the Halifax, decided to give up her job and work full time on the family farm.

And now their fledgling business has received the ultimate accolade by being awarded the gold star from The Great Taste Awards, which recognises the best of food and drink in the country.

Carol, 41, who named their product Calvia after their children Callum, nine, and Olivia, 11, said she and Paul, 47, have been overwhelmed at the response.

She said: “I was really surprised to get the gold award as we’ve only been doing it a year.

“It’s fantastic. They have about 10,000 entrants every year and about 3,000 got an award, so we feel very privileged.”

The couple, who live in Siddington, grow the rapeseed at Great Tidnock Farm in Gawsworth and process it into a versatile oil.

Although the field is a bright yellow crop, it’s the tiny black seed in the pod that is gently squeezed to produce the oil and keep in all the goodness.

Carol said: “It’s the British equivalent of olive oil, but it’s about half the saturated fat so it’s much healthier for you.

“And it’s more versatile, you can use it for baking, frying, salad dressings.

“You’d find that the taste will vary depending on the soil and climate, it can give a different flavour and texture each year – it’s like wine.”

The gold standard has spurred the couple on to concentrate on their production of Calvia honey, which has a unique taste due to the fact that the honey bees collect nectar from the rapeseed crop.

Carol added: “The bees absolutely love it.

“The population of 250,000 quadruples to nearly a million bees over the three weeks when its in blossom.

“And the honey is thick and creamy, it’s fantastic on toast.”

Calvia is stocked at Lane Ends Farm Shop in Sutton, Heathcotes Butchers in Bollington, the village shop in Gawsworth and Cheshire Smokehouse in Wilmslow.