A Darwen baker is using a 50-year-old secret family recipe to produce a new fruit pie.

Daniel Tighe has branded Frupies' after they had been sold unbranded in the family-run bakery D & M Marsden, of Blackburn Road, Darwen.

He saw the business opportunity with his late grandfather's old recipe of fruit and pastry.

Daniel, 24, took a business course at Manchester University to give him the expertise to make the family's secret recipe a big winner.

The Frupies', made by his mother Gillian, will be sold branded in the shop and delivered to outlets and shops as well as providing personal orders.

Orders will be distributed, through a new wholesale operation entirely dedicated to the product, based initially from Daniel's home next door to the bakery.

A website where orders can be placed is in the design stages and will be available when the product is officially launched in the next few months.

Daniel says the pies, designed and first made by his grandfather David Davidson, have a unique savoury twist which is what will make them popular.

He said: "The recipe has always been a favourite and I had wanted to get it out there for a long time. But it was getting the business know-how to do it.

"Now that I do, it is time to make Frupies a real success. It's all thanks to my late grandfather."

"After months of research the plan is now in place and I am ready to go. I have every confidence in the pies.

"They are totally free of artificial colourings and artificial flavourings.

"They come in several fruit varieties and there will be more to come. The recipe is a secret, but they taste sublime.

"I supplied a couple of hundred to my friends at Darwen Cricket Club and the feedback was just fantastic."

The pies, for which the recipe will never be revealed, will be available in apple, red cherry, blackberry, blueberry and rhubarb.