IT’S the cheesiest love story in Oxfordshire: a couple who quit their day jobs to start a cheesemaking businesses have been crowned best new producers in the UK.

Fraser Norton and Rachel Yarrow picked up the prestigious prize at the Great British Cheese Awards this month.

It follows awards for Best New Cheese at the Artisan Cheese Awards in April, Best New Business at the Didcot Business and Community Awards last November and a slew of other medals.

The couple, who are also raising their ten-month-old son Gabriel, produce just one cheese – Sinodun Hill – and it is that perfect, unpasteurised product which keeps winning them awards.

Mr Norton, 48, said they were surprised and delighted to keep winning, but also took a lot of pride in their champion cheese.

He said: “It is pretty unique in terms of UK cheeses: for a start it’s got a distinctive pyramid shape, but it’s also got a specific geotrichum yeast rind which gives it its wrinkly gold effect and its flavour.”

The cheese is made more unique by the animals it comes from: the couple’s herd of Anglo-Nubian goats.

Mr Norton explained: “Their milk has a lot of fat content which makes the cheese really creamy, and that’s another part of the unique combination.”

Mr Norton said that despite winning so many awards, the couple still felt grateful every time.

He added: “It means a lot because we work really hard, and we’re actually still setting up the business.

“I’m driving around the farm with my ten-month-old in the back, so it’s nice to get those rewards occasionally.”

Until now, the couple have been keeping their herd at North Farm in Little Wittenham and having their cheese made ten miles away at Nettlebed Creamery.

This month though, they have put in the ground work to build their own creamery.

The £75,000 build will be greatly helped along by a £30,000 EU Leader grant.

Making the cheese on-site will lower costs and their carbon footprint, but Mr Norton admitted it will also help the business, which still sometimes feels like a dream-come-true, feel even more like reality.