One of the best-known specialist food shops in Ipswich has been sold to new owners - but they've promised little will change for customers.

Procter's sausages has been trading in The Walk for 30 years after being set up by Simon Protheroe.

But now he has decided to retire and has sold the business to the Bosworth family who run a large pig farming business based near Chelmsford in Essex.

As well as the shop in The Walk Procter's also has a unit at Maidenhall Approach in Ipswich where the sausages are made.

The shop itself only accounts for about 10% of its production - 90% is sold to the catering where Procter's sausages are sold from small traditional cafes to some of the most prestigious hotels and restaurants in the region.

Procter's produce a number of different flavours of sausages.Procter's produce a number of different flavours of sausages. (Image: Newsquest)

Mr Protheoe said: "We have been looking for a buyer for some time and wanted to make sure the business would be in good hands - I'm sure we have achieved that."

Jack Bosworth said buying Procter's was a logical step for the farming business because they had wanted to be able to sell their pork directly for some time.

"We have been looking for an opportunity to do that in the medium term - to produce the food from farm to fork." 

But he was not looking to do anything radical: "So far as the customers are concerned nothing will change. The recipes are very popular and we just want to carry on with the same staff.

"And we won't be changing the name or anything like that - we'd be mad to do that when it's got such great recognition."

Although his company's farm is expected to eventually supply all the pork for the sausages, that is only likely to remain a small part of its production. It has a large pig unit at its base in Willingale in Essex - and another in Norfolk. 

Mr Bosworth said his farms produce about a million kilos of pig-meat a year while Mr Protheroe said Procter's makes about a tonne (1,000kg) of sausages a week.