If it was the Olympics, he may have been disqualified at the first hurdle.

But luckily for Harpenden butcher Karl Jelley, despite offering judges an over-sizzled sausage in a recent contest, they tasted good enough to win him silver.

Fortunately, also, for Karl, two other sausages he and staff make at Jelley’s Meats in Southdown won Gold at the AHDB pork produce excellence awards.

He admitted to the Herts Advertiser: “The only reason I got a silver for the honey roast pork sausages was that I burnt them!”

Karl was also marked down for serving his ware on the wrong sized tray.

The New Zealand born man, who has run an independent butchery in Harpenden for a decade, won gold for his ‘Wellington’ sausage, with its ingredients including parsley, thyme and oregano.

A second gold award was given for the sausage Karl created “for the village – it’s called the Southdowner, and it includes mustard seeds and green and red peppers.

“When I came to Southdown four years ago [after moving from Luton Road shopping parade], I thought I would make a sausage for the village, and I tried using mustard seeds initially but that didn’t work so I added in the green and red peppers.”

Karl, who has been a butcher for 34 years after starting in the trade in Rotorua, New Zealand, said the secret to making an award-winning sausage was “using good quality meat. I use Blythburgh free range pork”.

He entered his butchery’s three most popular sausages, which were pitted against 200 entries in the competition.