A BUNGAY pub has teamed up with the BBC to highlight the damaging affects food fraud is having on the restaurant industry.

Owners of The Castle Inn joined television presenter John Craven to create a film criticising eateries which advertise frozen food as fresh, seasonal and locally sourced.

Countryfile chose landlords Mark Hougham and Tanya Martin to take part in the programme after trading standards championed their pub for its genuine advertising and locally- sourced produce.

The programme will air on Sunday at 7pm on BBC One and will feature the Countryfile team testing people in Saxmundham to see if they can identify locally-sourced produce.

Mark, who has owned the Castle Inn pub for three-and-a-half years, said: “We were trying to test if people could tell if ingredients were sourced locally or not. We made a chicken pie with Danish bacon, Irish mushrooms, and chicken from the UK.

“There is a loophole which means we could still call it a ‘Suffolk’ pie because I made it here, and not because the ingredients came from the county.

“People in Saxmundham thought the pie was nice, but they were shocked when they discovered we could call it a ‘Suffolk’ pie even though it was not local – apart from the fact that my hands put it together here.”

“We always aim to use all locally sourced produce at The Castle Inn, from chutneys from local allotments, to pigeons shot in Bungay.”

The BBC spent thee hours filming at the pub on Tuesday, March 15, where they interviewed Mark in the kitchen, while he made the pies from non-locally sourced ingredients.

Tanya, of Staithe Road, Bungay, said: “We use local suppliers because we find it is better to get our produce from someone that we know. It reduces the miles the food has to travel and helps supports the local economy during this current climate. Also, if you have run out of meat during a night time service when the big stores are shut, your local butcher is much more likely to help you out.”