Martin's Bakery has been crowned East Lancashire’s best bakery after a fiercely fought competition between some of the region's top bakers.

The third-generation bakery, which has been treating residents in Oswaldtwistle to high-quality baked goods for nearly 80 years, has been named the best in the region by Lancashire Telegraph readers.

A total of 10 local bakeries were chosen by readers as finalists and battled it out for votes across a two-week voting period at the start of September.

Having been in the family since 1945, Martin's, based in Union Road, has been treating customers to a range of delicious treats for decades, with local favourites being the steak and meat pies as well as the custard tarts.

Owner Lyndon Martin said: “It’s great! We were up against some good quality businesses and it’s important that people can still support the high street because we all need it at the minute.

“The Lancashire Telegraph is a well-respected publication which I have read since I was a little boy so it’s great to win.

“We have a lot of loyal customers who have been coming for 50, 60 years and people come from all over.”

Staff at Martin's have been using the same recipes passed through the family since 1898 and its products, which are all made in-store, are just as popular now as they were 60 years ago when the bakery first opened its doors.

Historically the business has excelled at adapting to changes, including the opening of supermarkets and closing of factories in the area in the late 20th century.

More recently, the challenges of the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis have put additional strain on the business, but it continues to feed hungry mouths with the same passion it has always had, and Lyndon has no plans to slow down yet.

Lyndon added: “We won a pie competition in 2019 and when it happened we were locked down four days later and we didn’t get much benefit, so this is a really good one to win.”

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Lyndon’s grandfather starting work at the bakery in its previous iteration when it was originally called Smith's.

Since taking it on in 1945, Lyndon’s grandfather passed it on to his father who handed over the reins to Lyndon in 1990.