A couple inspired by popular cake making programme The Great British Bake Off have launched their own biscuit line.

Former Flintshire Chronicle journalist James Shepherd, and wife Natasha, have revived the recipe of an 800-year-old biscuit first made in Anglesey in the 13th Century.

The scallop-shaped Aberffraw biscuit, named after the village of the same name, is made using a traditional shortbread recipe.

While Natasha continues to work part-time for a governmental agency, James is developing Aberffraw Biscuit Company and is co-founder of Yoller, a web design and digital marketing agency.

“We were watching The Great British Bake Off last October and they had a feature about the Aberffraw biscuit,” said James.

“We started chatting about it and realised that despite the fact we were both from North Wales and lived here all our lives, we had never even heard of it, never mind the fact it was supposed to be Britain’s oldest biscuit,” he continued.

“The first thing I did was to buy the domain names for the website and then did some research to build an informational website and start developing a business plan.”

An enthusiastic home cook and amateur baker, James makes the biscuits and even designs the packaging.

“From the start we wanted everything to be as authentic as possible, from the unique stamp for the scallop shape of the biscuit to the ingredients which include Calon Wen organic butter and Bacheldre Mill stone-ground organic unbleached flour,” he added.

“Aberffraw Biscuit Co is all about resurrecting a piece of great history… the oldest biscuit recipe in Britain.

“We want to rekindle this gem of Welsh heritage.”