DORSET bakery owners said they were "thrilled" and "surprised" to scoop the award for best sourdough at the World Bread Awards.

M's Bakery has been crowned the winner of a national bread making award, winning the top prize at a competition in London this week.

The competition was held on Wednesday, October 26 with M's bakery owners, Marta and her husband Istvan, wowing the judges with their Pain au Levain.

The bakery's winning loaf, Pain au Levain, made simply with flour, water and salt, is commonly on sale at their Bakery in Pokesdown and the second branch in Christchurch

Marta and Istvan are no strangers to national recognition though; this is the second time Marta has won this very award, having scooped the top prize in 2018 with her French Country Sourdough.

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M’s Bakery also took home the People’s Choice Award, which is voted for by the public for their favourite baker or bakery. 

Istvan said: "We always knew our bread was good but we never thought it was this good. 

"We can sell up to 160 loaves on a busy day and we very often run out, our best selling loaf is our Pain au Levain which has now been named the world's best too."

Bournemouth Echo: M's Bakery's Pain au LevainM's Bakery's Pain au Levain (Image: Evie Coffey, Newsquest)

Marta and Istvan were presented with a cheque for £1000, a Tiptree hamper, KitchenAid equipment and trophy by Scott Goodfellow, joint managing director of Tiptree.

M's Bakery fought off competition from almost 500 loaves submitted to the awards from around the United Kingdom.

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Istvan added: "We were very surprised to win the award, I knew there were a lot of other strong contenders but I guess the judges were impressed with ours, we were thrilled when we won. 

"We still have a lot of work to do with our Christchurch branch because it's not been open long but in the future, we might look at opening more branches."

Marta and Istvan have been baking for more than 30 years, the couple first began baking cakes at home, which they’d then sell at local markets.