A GWENT butcher who specialises in selling meat from animals raised using non-intensive farming methods has been selected to join an exclusive scheme open only to butchers who meet the highest standard.

NS James & Son, of Crown Square, Raglan, is now accredited to the Traditional Breeds Meat Marketing Scheme run by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, the first in Wales.

The TBMM scheme identifies the breed the meat comes from as well as a range of other information.

NS James & Son was established in 1959 and is among only a few butchers in the country to still have its own abattoir.

Neil James, who now runs the business, said: "If you specialise in locally farmed meat and want the highest welfare then the old fashioned butcher with his own abattoir is the best way to go.

"Going back 50 years, all the best butchers shops had their own abattoir but today, with all the red tape and inspection costs, there are only a handful of us left.

"It keeps us in touch with all the farmers in the district who know we'll look after their animals when they come here."

As well as the usual selection of roasting and grilling joints offered by a traditional butcher, James also offers a large selection of home-made speciality sausages, faggots and his own cured and cooked hams.

Bacon is made the old-fashioned way by being dried cured which means the meat is cured in dried salt and saltpetre and not soaked in brine, the mass market cure that is said to cause the bacon to steam and split while it cooks and leaves a white residue.

As well as retail sales James also supplies meat to local pubs, restaurants and hotels. The business will now be expanding the products on offer to include rare breed meats.

Mr James said: "Customers absolutely love it. They come into the shop asking if they can have some more of that particular beef or pork. They know it's something special."

Rosemary Mansbridge, chief executive of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, said: "Butchers like Neil James can personally vouch for how their animals are raised and the conditions in which they are kept."

Unique to rare breed butchers, the computer-based system provides a complete record for each beef animal and batch of pigs and lambs. A certificate for display shows the breed of animal, confirmation that it was raised using non-intensive methods, where and when it was born, where it was slaughtered and a unique reference code.