The tradition of eating goose at Christmas dinner is becoming more popular according to a farmer who has claimed demand is soaring this year.

William Brisbourne, from Brisbourne Geese and Turkeys at Nesscliffe, near Shrewsbury, has discovered the demand for geese from his farm has grown over the years since he started rearing them in 1979.

People are travelling from as far as Suffolk to pick up their fresh geese or turkeys from the Nesscliffe farm and this year Mr Brisbourne has upped his number of geese to just under 2,000 birds.

He said there has also been a rise in demand for fresh turkeys over the last 32 years.

Mr Brisbourne said: “I have seen an increase in turkey and I think it is because people like to get their poultry from local producers. Geese have also come back in favour recently and they are only seasonal.

“In 1979 I had about 50 geese but this year we have just under 2,000 which is more than last year when we had 1,750.”

He said bronze turkey orders have also gone up from 100 when they started 32 years ago to 1,200 birds.

This year the farm started to rear its turkeys from the beginning of July and the geese in May and June.

Mr Brisbourne said: “We are hoping for a recorded year of sales this year, particularly the bronze turkey.

“We have customers who have been coming here for more than 20 years and we also have one chap who comes from Suffolk to get his geese.”

Mr Brisbourne said the goslings and turkeys graze and roam freely and are fed on a natural diet of home-produced wheat, potatoes and a specially prepared corn ration, without any growth promoters or animal proteins.

He said: “The birds are on our farm from beginning to end, this means we are in control of their well-being throughout their lives.”

He added each bird is dry plucked and then hung in a chilled environment for seven to 10 days to develop a fuller flavour and firm texture. All birds are dressed by hand and prepared oven-ready for collection.”