EACH week we ask readers to tell us about their favourite places, restaurants and pubs to visit in Dorset.

This week we asked them to tell us which bakery is the best in their opinion and here's their shortlist.

Idah's Patisserie

Idah’s on Christchurch Road at the Lansdowne claims to be Bournemouth oldest established family bakery. Expect to find all manner of old fashioned delights set to tempt you including chocolate éclairs, iced buns, cream horns, meringues, Danish pastries and custard slices. For those without a sweet tooth, savoury fans can tuck into cheese straws, sausage rolls and pasties.

Le Petit Prince

Small but perfectly formed, Le Petit Prince is a family-run patisserie and bakery on Poole Road in Westbourne. All their bread, patisserie and savouries are baked on site and they say they only use local natural ingredients. Visitors can buy a variety of breads including wheat-free with a gluten-free range to follow while cakes include Tarte aux Citron and chocolate and salted caramel tart.

M’s Bakery

M’s Bakery on Christchurch Road, Pokesdown, was highly praised for its “delicate pastry and delicious croissants and Pain au chocolat.” Their “fabulous” sourdough loaves also got the thumbs-up. The pictures and videos of their creations on their Facebook page will leave you salivating.

Bennetts

With six branches across Bournemouth and Poole, Bennetts Family Bakers are instantly recognisable for their red and white frontage and good old-fashioned cakes and have received scores of awards through the years. Started by Claude Bennett in 1951 following a move from Devon to Poole, the family have been delighting customers ever since.

Patisserie Mark Bennett

Mark, whose family run Bennetts Family Bakers, has more than 30 years in the baking business and has a small chain of shops under his own name. In 2014, he was named national baker of the year. One reader said: "Mark Bennett definitely best sandwiches ever and perfect cakes."