Local food sales in Tesco's Westcountry stores have hit a new record, the company has reported.

Sales topped £1m a week this month - a figure which gave the region's local food buying team a pleasant surprise.

Jo Wren, regional marketing manager for Tesco, said the £1m mark has been achieved quicker than expected.

"We know our local food lines are popular, but to get to the £1 million so quickly is fantastic," Jo explained.

"It shows our policy of stocking more and more local lines in our West County stores is just what our customers want."

The region's Tesco fish counters now stock up to six local fish lines and there are also six local pre-packed fish lines; there are six local bacon lines in pre-pack and on the meat counter; and all the beef, pork, lamb and offal on the serve over counters is local.

Free-range eggs are also now established in most counties, Tesco claimed.

Local brands of bottled water - Cornish Spring Water, Tarka Springs from Devon, Cotswold Spring, and Somerset's Cheddar Water - are all proving popular.

Cornish Rattler cider has been outselling Magners, the giants of the cider world, and Cornish Camembert, made by Cornish Country Larder, is outselling the well-established and renowned French Camembert.

Tesco were the first major retailer to support local family run farms with localchoice milk.

The success of Localchoice milk is a great example of a key local line - where Tesco pays direct contract dairy farmers 28.5 p per litre.

Mike Seymour, buyer in the region, said: "All of this shows that customers' demand for locally produced food is a growing trend"

The local food buying team was set up in the region in 2007 and has already signed up more than 100 local suppliers with up to 300 local food and drink lines.

Nationally, Tesco sales of local produce reached £400m in the last financial year, and the company has a target of £1bn in local food and drink sales by 2011.

Figures suggest that nearly one pound in every three goes into a Tesco till.

The supermarket now ranks alongside Wal-Mart and France's Carrefour as one of the world's largest retailers.