WHEN customers asked if he served home-made pies Tyldesley butcher Mick Hilton didn't like saying "No" - so he built a bakery next door!

"We sell the best beef in Bongs, now we'll serve the best bread as well," he smiled.

"Being on the main street we were always being asked if we did our own pies. I got tired of saying 'No' so decided to do something positive about the situation.

"At Hiltons' we take extra care in selecting the choicest meat, the same care goes into our bakery products.

"Our pies, bread and cakes have that home-made texture and flavour which mass-produced confectionery cannot match. You won't get heartburn eating our stuff!

"It is made and baked in our own premises using the best ingredients with a skilled staff, led by baker Richard Banks."

Last year work began on the bakery which played an earlier and much different role in the family concern.

Mick's father, Jimmy, takes up that part of the Hilton success story which centres on the shop he set-up in Elliott Street.

Now 68 and working part-time in the family business, Jimmy,

recalled:"When I bought the Elliott Street shop 40 years ago there were 16 butchers in Tyldesley. Now there is only one other independent butcher.

"I bought next door to provide an extra bedroom above for our growing family. For years we leased-it out then decided to expand our own business."

And son Mick added:"We've torn the place apart and completely refitted it.

"Now we can offer cooked meats, prepared on the premises, a delicatessen selection, a delicious variety of cheeses and prepared snacks."

Definitely one of the area's upper-crust butchers. Next news story

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Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.