Jess Noy of East Bergholt, showing off her squirrel pasties and samosas.

THEY aren’t something you find on many restaurant menus or in supermarket freezers, but squirrel pasties are going down a storm at farmers’ markets.

Jess Noy of East Bergholt, butchering a squirrel for her pasties and samosas.

Jess Noy, of East Bergholt, started selling the unusual pasties and samosas at a farmers’ market in Assington last week and they sold like hot cakes.

She has been selling her produce under the Jessica’s Pantry brand name for the past two months, including dishes featuring pheasant, pigeon and rabbit – but squirrel is a new addition to her larder.

Miss Noy’s father is a gamekeeper and brings home the squirrels for the new dishes after catching them around the estate where he works.

She said: “I sold them last Sunday for the first time at Assington Farmers’ Market.

“They went down a storm and everyone was interested in them. I like to be different with what I’m doing and I’m really pleased with it all.”

Miss Noy, 22, said squirrel was an ethical meat, free range and low in food miles – something that many people were very interested in.

Justine Paul, organiser of Assington Farmers’ Market, added: “I am so excited that Jess has brought such an fantastic new product to the market and I am delighted that our customers are so open-minded about trying new food – it just proves that Suffolk is one of most innovative and dynamic areas of food production.”

It is legal to sell grey squirrel meat if it has come from a “reputable source” and has been caught and killed by someone with a game licence.

It is illegal to catch or kill wild grey squirrels without a licence and all red squirrels are protected by law.