A chef has found an unusual way to deal with Britain's grey squirrels - baking them in a pie.

James Hughes Davies, chef and owner of Little Jack Horner's Pies, sells squirrel pies in Balham Farmers Market, Balham on alternating Saturdays.

Mr Davies, of Acton, gets the grey squirrels from a friend who captures them in the Suffolk countryside.

The chef then slow cooks them and bakes them in a pie, likening them to the taste of wild rabbit.

He said it is an inventive way to control the numbers of grey squirrels in the UK, which have forced the red squirrels back into a few remaining areas despite attempts to cull their numbers.

Mr Davies said: "There is far too many, they need to be controlled, they are defined as vermin.

"Initially the pies were met with certain levels of bemusement, but there was a core group of people who were excited and interested."

Foodies can purchase the pies in Balham on the first, third and fifth Saturday of every month.

The pies are also sold at markets in Parliament Hill, Pimlico, Parsons Green and Marylebone.

Prices start at £6.50, with money back for customers who return the enamel dish they are sold in.

Visit ljhorners.com.