THE Llamb campervan proved to be a raving success in Manchester.

At the end of November, the ‘Llamb campervan’, filled with PGI Welsh Lamb lunch bites, parked up in Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester with the aim of bringing Welsh lamb to the people of Manchester.

Hungry passers-by were given the opportunity to choose from a luxury PGI Welsh Lamb burger, a rack of ribs or a quality kebab hand-served by two Welsh farming brothers.

To win their fragrant food, the public just had to complete a simple task.

The task at hand to obtain the free lunch was to attempt to pronounce the longest place name in Wales - Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch.

The event proved a great success with hundreds of attempts being made to pronounce the place name – so much so, that the food ran out within an hour-and-a-half.

Despite only a handful getting close to the correct pronunciation, the food was enjoyed by all, with comments such as, “ten out of ten!”, “really nice, great flavour” and “really juicy, gorgeous!”.

The Manchester marketing drive is part of an ongoing push by Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) to raise awareness of lamb from Wales in the vital English market.

Echoing past TV advertising, the ‘double l’ to mis-spell ‘lamb’ is used as a subtle linguistic twist to convey the unique provenance of PGI Welsh Lamb.

Rhys Llywelyn, market development manager at HCC, said: “It’s great that the Llamb campervan was received so enthusiastically in Manchester.

"At this time of year, Welsh lamb is still in its peak seasonality and tastes delicious, so it’s no wonder all the produce was gone in no time!”

The camper van itself, known fondly as “Burger Bay”, is owned by Llanrwst brothers William and Huw Roberts.

The brothers, who are sheep and beef farmers, use lamb directly from their farm. The campervan was purchased with the intention to sell Welsh lamb and Welsh beef produce at county shows and events throughout the year.