Three friends have tackled a five-day quest to find Cornwall’s best pasty.

After eating 38 pasties in five days, they voted for a South East Cornwall producer as winner, as well as deciding to take a break from pastry for a while.

Stuart Morris, from Manchester, and Mike Irwin and Karen Savva-Irwin, from Looe, travelled more than 500 miles and visited 38 independent pasty producers to try, taste and score each traditional standard-sized steak pasty on appearance, pastry and filling.

The three admitted that, after the first few days, they began sharing pasties rather than having one each…

But they awarded first place to Helluva Pasties, of Cadson Manor Farm, near Callington.

Joint runners-up were McFaddens, of St Just, and the Chough Bakery, of Padstow.

Chrissie Dawe, of Helluva Pasties, said the firm was ‘absolutely delighted to be voted the best pasty in Cornwall, particularly as this was completely independent and with anonymity from the participants until after the taste test’.

She added: ‘Receiving positive feedback like this re-affirms the pride and passion we have for our pasties.’