If you ever taste the perfect biscuit, the chances are the raw material came from Essex.

Great Tey farmer Robin Bartleet, of Abraham's Farm, Great Tey, near Colchester, has scooped £1,000 in the World Class Wheat competition.

He's been farming a range of crops for the past 18 years and has fought off stiff competition from rivals across the UK to win the top wheat award.

His award-winning wheat was a type called Riband - which is most often used to make biscuits.

Prize-giving judges looked at overall quality and the production costs per tonne.

Mr Bartleet, who farms 536 acres, won with wheat which cost just £51.15 per tonne to produce.

Top farmer - Robin Bartleet and winning wheat.

Picture: STEPHANIE MACKRILL

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.