Roll up, roll up for a roller coaster ride of fantasy pies

Fair-goers at Fantasy Island theme park in Skegness, will now be able to tuck into Yorkshire's finest fare - at the fair - with the opening of Britain's first Pie People shop.

North Yorkshire's Pie People bakery has just opened its first retail outlet at the Lincolnshire based seaside hot spot - so people can take away a true Yorkshire pie to enjoy while they ride.

The family-run bakery, which has been making and baking pies for more than 60 years at its base in Scarborough, is offering its range of deep-filled, premium short crust pastry pies to park visitors in a specially built takeaway and café inside the Castaways Pub, right at the heart of the park under the roar of the roller coaster rides.

Freshly cooked on site, pie-lovers will not be able to 'dodgem' the traditional favourites such as steak and ale and chicken and gravy or more unusual fillings such as beef tagine and chicken tikka. The shop is also selling the Pie People's flagship product, 'The Wedge' - a unique triangular pie, shaped like a slice of cake - a UK first, and, at hefty 320g, a complete meal in a pie!

General manager and former chef Andrew Harvey, who is heading up the Skegness operation, said: "We're really excited about the next few months and can't wait for people to taste our pies. We feel there's a real gap in the market for good quality pies on the high street -we home bake small batches of the pies in our bakery in Scarborough to a proven family recipe, and then each pie is freshly cooked on site in Skegness."

Fantasy Island visitors can 'grab and go' from the Pie People's takeaway and café, based inside the pub on Sea View, or tuck into its carvery in the Scallywag Show Bar, and fresh-baked baguettes and paninis in the amusement arcade.

The flagship 'Wedge' is also available in supermarkets across the UK, with 30,000 of the unique pie's being sold to Morrison's and other retailers each week. Plans are already in the 'pieline' to open a second Pie People site in London this summer, and roll out the concept across the country to similar visitor attractions and sporting venues and events this year.

"It's an exciting year ahead," says Andrew Harvey. "Were hoping to have our fingers in many more pies yet!"

The Pie People shops opened at Fantasy Island on Good Friday.