These award-winning London sausages are officially the best in the UK

Vegetarians and vegans, look away now. Everyone else, listen up. The Smithfield Awards have just crowned Britain’s best butchers for 2025, and the best sausages in the UK are right here in London. If you’re planning on making a sausage sarnie anytime soon, these are the pork products you’re going to want to get your hands on. 

Britain’s best bangers are made at Lidgate Butchers, a 175-year-old butchers shop in Holland Park. At the prestigious awards, organised by the Q Guild of Butchers, Lidgate was named Best in Class for its Gloucester old spot sausage. The saussies scored 68 points out of a possible 70, and were described by judges as ‘faultless’ with ‘a lovely balance of tender pork and herb mix’. Here are the sausages in question. 

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Lidgate also won a Diamond Award in the game category for its rabbit paupiette with wild mushroom – a thin slice of rabbit rolled up with the veggies stuffed in the centre. 

The awards which have run for more than 30 years recognise the UK’s finest craft butchery products including best traditional pork sausage, burger, home-cured bacon and black pudding. Products are awarded a Bronze, Silver or Gold award by a panel of independent industry judges, with all Gold products in each category going head to head for the coveted Diamond award.

Danny Lidgate from Lidgate Butchers said: ‘We’re always looking at trying to create new and innovative products and it means a lot for us to win two Best in Class awards. We’ve won Smithfield Awards before but getting one in the game category means a lot to us, especially as this is a new product. Our manager Steven Owens came up with the game recipe. He’s been working with Team GB and got a lot of inspiration from them for this.’

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