BLACK pudding specialist Andrew Holt was on the receiving end of an entirely different kind of grilling.

For, on his recent return from a food festival he was stopped by customs officers at Vienna Airport who suspected he was trying to smuggle drugs back into the UK.

But his bacon was saved when he revealed the suspicious-looking bags he was carrying were nothing more sinister than his secret blend of herbs and spices used in his award-winning black pudding recipe.

Initially mistaken for cannabis, his spices were returned to him and the relieved butcher was allowed to continue his journey.

Andrew, who was travelling back to Waterfoot with his 14-year-old son Brett, was taken to a customs interview room where he was grilled about the suspect packages. His protestations that he used the herbs and spices for his black puddings initially fell on deaf ears of customs officials, who had never heard of the British delicacy.

However, luckily for Andrew, he had kept a list of the spices which he used to persuade customs officers he was not a major drug smuggler.

Andrew, of RS Ireland, Back Duke Street, Waterfoot, said: "I had some herbs and spices left over from the festival which I didn't want to waste, so I put them in vacuum pack bags and thought no more about it. With hindsight I was a bit naive and I can see how someone might mistake the packets for something else.

"I kept trying to say they were for making black pudding, but that doesn't really translate into German so I just got blank looks.

"My son was really quite scared, so it was lucky I had kept the list and managed to persuade them to let us go. We only just caught our plane though, and it's not something I'll be doing again in a hurry."

Andrew's Real Lancashire Black Pudding Co products have scooped awards and been featured on celebrity chef Rick Stein's cookery show.

He has owned R S Ireland in Waterfoot for the past 11 years and has been actively entering competitions for the last seven -- with more than 50 major awards already to his name

When he took over the business, in Warth Old Road, he retained the established business name which had been trading for 30 years and bought out the recipe.

One thing he did change was the level of production -- which has escalated from one tonne of black puddings a week to three tonnes.

Customers include Nutter's, above Edenfield and Northcote Manor, Langho and Fortnum and Mason.

Andrew's honours to date include 20 gold medals, 15 silver, nine bronze, first, second and third places in the Best in Britain competition 1999 to 2000 and first and third in the Best in Britain competition from 1997 to 1999.

In 2000 he was also made a chevalier du gout-boudin noir -- knight of the black pudding tasters.