Fresh, well-made and attention to detail - the keys to a good pie

Michael Bachyk, owner of award-winning Wolverhampton butchers Michael Kirk, has been keen to speak about an area he is an expert in at the start of British Pie Week.

The week is a national celebration of everything about pies, with figures showing the average Brit eats more than 2,000 pies in their lifetime.

Michael Kirk Butchers, which is situated outside the Mander Centre in Woolpack Alley, is one of the region's top pie makers, having been crowned national Pork Pie champion in 2005, and Mr Bachyk said the quality of the pies is what brings people in to buy them.

Mr Bachyk said: "People have grown to know that we make the pies fresh every day and I believe you can't beat something that's been made with quality and which uses quality produce.

"That's why people get to know about them and try them and that's why they return again and again.

"We don't hand press them, we use a press to press them into shape, but we then hand crimp them to give them the nice appearance which is appealing to the eye."

The shop sells a range of pork pies, from the traditional pork pies, which are finely spiced with crunchy pastry and come in small, medium and large sizes, to the Black Country Pork Pie, which has black pudding in the middle.

Among the people coming into the shop to buy pork pies were Kerry Hunt and her mother Pam from Lanesfield, with Kerry saying that it was the way the pies were made which brought her back.

She said: "They're just really tasty and full of succulent meat and you feel like you've had something homemade as it takes so freshly cooked.

"I love the pies here and I'm a fan of a steak and kidney pie, while my mum really loves the pork pies."

The shop also sells several types of hot pies, including a mushroom pie, steak and ale pie, steak pie and steak and kidney pie, and Mr Bachyk said the pie was something very British.

He said: "It's just a traditional which has gone on for years and years.

"You can put all sorts of ingredients in and mix and match and make all sorts of flavours, but it all goes down to what you put in a pie to give it that ideal flavour that everybody enjoys.

"I'm very basic when it comes to pies and my favourite is a traditional pork pie."

Mr Bachyk also said he wanted the butcher's shop to continue being a part of the community and a leader with charitable donations, saying that the proceeds of any pork pies sold over the weekend would go towards the aid effort for Ukraine.

He said: "My father came from Ukraine and I feel that it's a necessity for us to help them in their hour of need.

"We've already donated various things and helped to move items to Birmingham to be transported to Ukraine and I feel that we need to do this to help people in need."