GREGGS' new vegan sausage rolls have proved a hit in Carlisle - with two stores selling out of the product on its first day.

The new pastry went on sale in Carlisle's Scotch Street and Lanes Centre branches on Thursday morning, and was met with an overwhelming demand from customers at both stores.

The News & Star contacted both branches to find out how successful the new vegan additions to its menu were.

One staff member at the Scotch Street store told us: "They went on sale at 10.30am on Thursday morning, and by 1pm, there were none left.

"So far, we've sold about 160 of the new vegan sausage rolls between Thursday and Saturday.

"I didn't realise how many vegans there were in Carlisle!"

A member of staff from The Lanes branch said the store had received about 30 phone calls from customers in recent days, asking if they had the product in stock.

The latest addition has gone on sale in only 900 selected stores across the country, including the branches at Main Street in Cockermouth, Market Square in Keswick, Senhouse Street in Maryport, and Kings Street in Whitehaven.

The vegan version has some 'classic features' of the traditional sausage roll, according to Greggs, including 96 layers of puff pastry - but instead of meat, the filling is made with Quorn.

Greggs said the launch follows 'strong consumer demand', including a petition by Peta last year signed by more than 20,000 people.

Roger Whiteside, chief executive at Greggs, said: "Like many food retailers we have seen increasing demand for vegetarian and vegan products.

"We have been trying to develop a vegan version of our famous sausage roll for some time now.

"It has not been easy but our taste panel customers all love this one, so we have decided to launch it as our contribution to Veganuary."

Veganuary encourages people to try vegan food for January and across the year.

Recent research from supermarket chain Waitrose found that a third (33.5 per cent) of people now have meat-free or meat-reduced diets.

Many are dipping in and out of being meat eaters, the research found, with half of those who say they are vegan or vegetarian eating meat "at weekends", "occasionally" or "on special occasions".