SAUSAGES flavoured with BUCKFAST have hit the shelves of a Greenock butcher’s — and are going down a storm with customers.

Barmy butcher Duncan MacKenzie came up with the idea of the tonic wine-infused ‘Bucky Bangers’ as a one-off but he says shoppers have had no beef with them and they are lapping them up.

He came up with the idea after a brainstorming session with a friend and fellow butcher in the east coast and the pair decided to give it a try.

Now Duncan, whose Inverkip Street family business has been on the go for nearly 100 years, is the first butcher in Inverclyde to stock the unusual batch of bangers.

The award-winning craft butcher told the Tele: “It was something that was thrown about a couple of years ago between myself and another butcher in Perth.

“I thought I could sell them but I was worried about the alcohol side of it.

“But he phoned me and said he was making them so I said ‘okay, you take the east coast and I’ll take the west coast’.

“They are cracking — it’s normal beef sausages and the exact same recipe but replacing part of the water with Buckfast.

“I’d actually never tried Buckfast until the other day.

“You can’t taste a strong Buckfast flavour but it gives a great, sweet after-taste to the sausage — it’s very nice.” Duncan, who runs the popular town centre shop with wife Jean, is known for his traditional produce but also stocks some quirky products, including fiery ‘Ghost Burgers’ made with ghost chillies.

But he is now preparing to expand his Buckfast range and is currently creating a batch of ‘Bucky Burgers’ which will go on sale this week following the success of his links.

Duncan says it has been an eye-opening experience sourcing his star ingredient.

Duncan said: “I went into the off-licence to buy a half bottle of Buckfast and the lady told me it cost a fiver.

“I thought to myself ‘this product won’t be very cheap!

“But I’ve had good feedback about them.

“Everybody who has tried them has liked them — I haven’t had any negative responses.

“It’s a nice gimmick and it’s just there for flavour — pure and simple.” Buckfast is derived from the Buckfast Abbey in Devon where the fortified wine originated when it was made by Benedictine monks.

It has been a controversial product for many years and has been criticised for its high caffeine content.

But the makers say their product is enjoyed responsibly by the vast majority of customers.