A FAMILY-RUN engineering firm has developed a portable glazing machine to help bakers create the perfect pie.

Addington Engineers, of Brompton-on-Swale, near Richmond, normally creates labour-saving devices for the car and pharmaceutical industries.

However, it came up with its new machine – which automatically glazes the pies as they pass by on their way to the ovens – after requests from bakers.

Eric Addington, who founded the company 40 years ago, was indirectly involved in the baking industry and previously devised a range of pieglazing equipment.

Craig Vine, his grandson and present managing director, said: “He died in March last year, but we are taking on ideas he originally had.

“We found that there was a real need among food manufacturers to increase production line efficiency to meet the ever-increasing demands of snack food consumers.

“We are marketing them at the moment, have sold a few and are hoping large batch pie manufacturers take them up.”

Mr Vine said that bakeries could save a significant amount of money with the machines.

He said: “Doing it manually and with sprays, you always get a lot of waste.”

The stainless steel machine can glaze between 1,200 and 2,000 pies an hour, depending on production methods.