A LOCAL supplier of premium edible snails to the likes of top chef Heston Blumenthal is looking to take his business in a new direction.

Richard Fishbourne of Fownhope has put forward a planning application to turn his current snail cooking cabin located in Hawker’s Lane into a single-bedroom holiday let and relocating the cooking operation to an already permitted hay store at the site.

“Since Covid, business hasn’t been quite as buoyant, though it’s still profitable, so we are looking to diversify,” Mr Fishbourne said. “But for small local business that can be an uphill battle.”

Mr Fishbourne’s business, L’Escargot Anglais (the English Snail) supplies naturally sourced Burgundy snails (Helix pomatia), the species preferred by chefs which are around twice the size of regular garden snails, but are not as prolific at reproducing, he said.

Around 40,000 raw frozen snails are brought in at a time from the continent three to four times a year, before being cooked and dispatched to customers either chilled or re-frozen in more manageable batches.

The company supplies the historic L’Escargot restaurant in Soho and Herefordshire’s own Carriages at Whitestone Business Park.

“But climate change is not being kind to the pomatia snail, whose future is very uncertain,” Mr Fishbourne added, while Brexit has meant more paperwork when importing the snails from wild reserves in Europe.

“It’s a Herefordshire success story,” he added. “But it’s very niche business, which has its ups and downs.”

The aesthetic appeal of the converted cooking cabin will be improved during the conversion to accommodation, his application states.

This shows the building split into a double bedroom with en-suite and a combined kitchen, dining and living room.

“Fownhope has a lot going on and this will be a boost to the local economy, without adding any extra buildings,” Mr Fishbourne said.

Comments can be made on the application, number 250946 at Herefordshire planning portal until July 3.