Now Lindsay, with backing from mum Margaret Wigham, has given up her full time NHS job and set up Cherrytree Supplies Ltd, based at Greenside Farm near Castleside in County Durham.

As part of the campaign, local people are being asked to send in recipe ideas that use food which may otherwise be wasted, such as Bubble and Squeak made from leftover cooked vegetables. The best recipes will be showcased in the regional media, on the councils' websites and have the chance of winning a copy of the book, 'Eat Well, Waste Less' by Bish Muir. Local chefs are also putting their recipes in to the pot.

The Fisherman's Lodge in Jesmond is asking local wine connoisseurs who regularly dine out on business to become one of their monthly Guest Sommeliers, offering their choices to other guests.

Hownsgill Farm, near Consett, is creating the tearoom to complement a bunkhouse which has already been developed in the farm's former milking parlour.

Giving evidence before the government's Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), Jack Matthews, chief executive of food and drink sector skills council Improve, said the immigration quota placed on Bulgarian and Romanian workers was "inconsistent when matched against need" and unfairly penalised certain food and drink sectors.

The company, which was revived by managing director Ian Linsley in 2003, is now looking to use the trademark to market its products across the country.