Leading regional retailer Booths has put a squeeze on foreign imports to ensure every single tomato in its stores is now home grown.

From this summer, all of its tomatoes are from British shores - with 65 per cent grown within its four core counties of Lancashire, Cumbria, Yorkshire and Cheshire.

Booths buyer Matthew Bruno, who has the plum job of selecting the delicious varieties in store, says: "British tomatoes are the best in the world. They're sweet, full of flavour and sourcing them as close to our stores as possible means customers get the freshest tasting tomatoes on their plates."

Top of the crops on offer at Booths include Elegance Vine, Cupido Baby Plums and Classy Loose Vine tomatoes from Lansdale Nurseries in Ormskirk.

Knutsford's Chris Rudd supplies a selection of loose vine tomatoes and there are loose round tomatoes from Joe Amatiello's nursery in Blackpool.

An exclusive at Booths is the Sweet Magic tomato, which is grown by Brian Ascroft at Croftpak Nurseries in Preston.

Brian says: "Sweet Magic is a lovely, old-fashioned style of tomato with a high acid content which gives it its distinct flavour.

"I've been growing tomatoes for 50 years now and I don't know why it is but British tomatoes just taste the best."

Brian also supplies Booths with Bianca on the Vine and Cherry tomatoes on the Vine.

Other varieties on offer include plum tomatoes, organic cherry tomatoes and beef tomatoes. Not only do they taste delicious, but tomatoes are truly nutritious. They are rich in vitamin C and they contain vitamins A and B, potassium, iron and phosphorus.

They also have a substance called lycopene, which is the pigment that makes tomatoes red. Research suggests that lycopene may help to protect against some diseases, including cardiovascular disease and some types of cancer, such as prostate cancer.