To see Jessica Felton-Page stroking her pigs and patting their hairy backs you would think she couldn’t be without them.

However, the 24-year-old from Codsall Wood runs a traditional farm shop where animals that roam around the fields will one day end up as produce.

Jessica started the business in July last year with her partner, farmer Chris Coles and she says their fresh, locally-grown goods are proving very popular.

After growing up in Herefordshire Jessica had decided to become a vet and went to Bristol University to get a degree in chemistry.

However, it wasn’t long before she realised she wasn’t cut out for a lab and a white coat and she wanted to spend her days out in the countryside.

Her business, Muddy Footprints Farm Shop on Wood Road, stocks a range of local food from eggs, bread and tomatoes to honey, mustard and marmalade. She says: “We decided to start the shop because we felt that in this country there is a monopoly held by supermarkets on things you should be able to buy across the farm gate.

“The supermarkets put pressure on farmers to make sure things look a certain way, and that means the quality is never as good as it should be.”

Jessica says growing up in the farming community means she has made friends with farmers across the country.  “Farming is a national community and so you can spend a summer making hay in one part of the country and then helping out on a farm somewhere else over the winter,” she says.

“You end up making some good friends and I knew the people that owned Langley Lawn Farm and Woodhall Farm in Codsall Wood and thought it was a good place to settle down and set up the business.”

Jessica says they have five pigs at the front of the shop but there are another 50 at Langley Lawn Farm, along with 300 sheep. “When we opened the doors of the shop we didn’t advertise as we just wanted to get the ball rolling. However, it was a roaring success and we didn’t grow enough at the beginning to keep up with demand — but now we have got it just right.”