Campaigners are calling on the Government to protect the special status of one of Cumbria's top exports in the wake of Brexit, declaring: Save our Cumberland Sausage.

The tasty Cumbrian delicacy is currently safeguarded under EU laws - known as protected geographical status - which prevent anyone from using the Cumberland Sausage name, unless the product is made in the county and to a strict recipe.

But with the UK heading for the EU exit door, that special status is at risk - along with 63 other products such as the Melton Mowbray pork pie and Swaledale cheese.

Matthew O'Callaghan, chairman of the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association, is leading the fight for protected products.

He said: "The traditional Cumberland Sausage would lose its protection in the UK and that's not good news.

"We need to persuade the Government to have its own similar scheme to protect products here in the UK. The decision does significantly affect a number of food items."

Cumberland Sausage would still be protected in EU countries, just not in the UK.

Mr O'Callaghan said his group has already written to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) asking what their intentions are.

"We have insisted that something is done as soon as possible," he added.