The day after the night before for Perth bakery queen Linda Hill began with a surprise phone call at 5.45am.
Her firm, Murrays of Perth, had been named world scotch pie champion, on Wednesday and Radio Two breakfast show host Chris Evans called to speak about her success.
“It was something I wasn’t expecting,” said Linda.
“They wanted me to be their mystery guest later in the show. They had me on and gave me a big introduction and everything.
“It was a strange way to start the day and it hasn’t stopped since.”
Less than 24 hours earlier, Linda, of Murrays Bakers on Perth’s South Street, was crowned the world scotch pie champion, beating off almost 100 bakers from across the globe at a ceremony in Cumbernauld.
Her scotch pie was selected by a panel of 50 experts, including Bay City Roller Les McKeown.
She said: “It has been absolutely mental. The phone just hasn’t stopped ringing since that call from Radio Two this morning.
“We’ve spent the day taking calls from people in London. They have all been asking if we can post some pies down to them. They’d all heard about it on the Chris Evans show.
“The shop has been busier than usual, we’ve had a lot of press and our Facebook has been going bananas.”
Asked how she was dealing with her new-found stardom, she said: “I’m taking it all in my stride only joking, I’ve been hyper all day!”
Murrays Bakers has been keeping Perth stocked up with pies and other treats for more than a century.
The scotch pie recipe, a closely guarded secret, was perfected by Linda’s father Sandy Ross about 50 years ago and has been unchanged ever since.
The shop has been inundated with congratulatory messages from customers.
Local MSP and Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: “Murrays pies are an institution going back generations in the city, as anyone can see at any lunchtime, when people queue out the door and along South Street to place their orders.
“As a local MSP it is always great to see the hard work and dedication of small businesses recognised positively on a national stage and against international competition.”
MSP Murdo Fraser added: “The staff at Murray Bakers have worked extremely hard to win this award and it is great for them to get some well-deserved national acclaim.”