This Week on the Farm: Yorkshire sausage producer Heck beating HGV driver shortages by growing its own herbs in 'vertical' farm in Bedale

The company's founder Andrew Keeble appears on Channel 5's This Week on the Farm to show presenter JB Gill around the 'vertical' micro-greens growing operation.

Basil for the brand's vegan sausages, which make up 20 per cent of their business, is grown inside the £100,000 facility.

Mr Keeble said: “It was fantastic to host JB. We currently import 10,000 tonnes of basil from Spain each year, so the vertical farm immediately eliminates a huge amount of food miles. We are farmers turned producers but now we are able to look to the future of agriculture. There are huge benefits to vertical farming - no pesticides or herbicides, less water, no transport, less food waste, higher production, better shelf life - the list is endless. Our aim is to be able to produce a wide range of leafy veg and herbs that we can use across the range, delivering tasty flavours from farm, to factory, to plate.”

Heck, founded in 2012, now produces 50,000 meatless sausages every day.

Also on this week's episode: Yorkshire Vet star Peter Wright visits the Sea Life Centre in Scarborough to see what damage plastic is doing to the seal population and Cannon Hall Farm chef Tim Bilton vistis a Hemp Farm, while Our Yorkshire Farm star Reuben Owen goes head to head with Robert Nicholson pitting electric against petrol farm vehicles.

This Week on the Farm is on Wednesday at 8pm on Channel 5.