Stilton villagers campaign to make namesake cheese after ban

Central
Stilton
Tuesday 28 January 2020 at 11:51am

Villagers in Stilton are again campaigning for the right to be able to make its namesake cheese - after they were banned from producing it.

Stilton, a village in Peterborough, can't legally make the cheese and call it Stilton - as Stilton cheese can only currently be produced in three East Midlands dairies.

Villagers are now campaigning again for the right to produce the cheese in its namesake village.

This follows an ongoing battle between the village and the Stilton Cheese Makers' Association, after a bid by the village Stilton to make the cheese was rejected in 2013.

Under EU law, Stilton, can only currently be produced in Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, where it is thought the cheese originated.

This means the cheese made in the village can't legally be called Stilton - The Bell Inn in Stilton, was forced to call a blue-veined cheese they made ‘Bells Blue’ instead of Stilton in 2013, due to the EU ruling.

A Cambridgeshire MP also backed a call for a review of the decision in 2014.