A BREAKFAST bar owner proved “streaks” ahead of the competition when her bacon butties were named top tucker in a national contest.

Jo Marston from Christ­church swapped a stressful life as a court bailiff two years ago to run her own mobile food van on the A4136 near Staunton.

And after winning the accolade of ‘best bacon butty,’ a delighted Jo said: “It’s fantastic – switching to my own catering business was one of the best decisions I ever made.”

She left the nation’s cafés, restaurants, hotels and roadside food bars playing “ketchup” as JoJo’s Breakfast Bar was named best in the West as one of 10 UK-wide winners in IronmongeryDirect’s search for ‘Britain’s Best Bacon Butty’.

Jo was nominated by Coleford-based Nigel Cham­­bers, who runs Door Doctor carpentry and won £100 worth of Amazon vouchers for his efforts. And other satisfied customers at her lay-by food van flocked to vote for her.

“I found out I’d been named one of the top 10 places for a bacon butty on Friday (June 23) at my stepdaughter’s wedding in Brighton,” added Jo.

“I don’t know what the secret is – you’ll have to ask my customers. Whatever it is they keep coming back for more.

“But it’s great local produce from Evans of Monmouth, and you can’t have a great bacon butty without great bread which I get from the Thura bakery in Coleford,” she said.

“I had a really stressful job for 20 years as a court bailiff in Newport. No one wanted to see me, but here it’s so sociable and friendly. Locals and drivers want to pull over and have a butty and a chat.

“I’d never thought about catering before, but when the previous owner, my friend Dean Jordan from Coleford, mentioned he might be selling the van, I thought that’s different, I fancy that.”

And finishing off his bacon and egg butty, quarry worker Wayne Probert said: “Cracking it was, brilliant. I always stop here and Jo’s always happy and smiling.”

To see a dedicated map of Britain’s top bacon butties, go to www.iron

mongerydirect.co.uk/research/britains-best-bacon-butty

The competition was launched after research by the firm found that the bacon butty was the breakfast of choice for the nation’s tradespeople.