MEMBERS of Parliament from across the UK will be finishing off their meals with two of Dorset's tastiest cheeses during the next fortnight.

Peter and Priscilla Kininmonth from Cranborne Chase Cheese at Ashmore have shipped 60 cheeses up the House of Commons for the cheeseboards in the Members' and the Strangers' dining rooms.

Mr Kininmonth said he is "delighted" that North Dorset MP Bob Walter decided to promote his Alderwood and Win Green cheeses in the Commons' dining rooms.

The Kininmonths, their cheesemaker Richard Biddlecombe and his assistant Alison French, make about 12 tonnes of cheese a year at Manor Farm.

Win Green, named after the eponymous village on the outskirts of Shaftesbury, is a soft mould-ripened cheese; Alderwood is a semi-hard rind-washed cheese. They also make St Nicholas, after the patron saint of Ashmore church, is a soft-ripened fresh cheese. All three are handmade using unpasteurised cows milk from a single herd.

Mr Kininmonth, 82, who was a Scottish Rugby International between 1949 and 1955 and who took part in the 1950 Lions Tour, only took up cheesemaking with his wife five years ago. They and Mr Biddlecombe went on a course in Cheshire to learn the art.

They obviously learned well because in September their cheeses won the National Cheese Lovers' Trophy at the British Cheese Awards in Cheltenham.

Mr Walter said: "When Peter Kininmonth asked me to help get his cheeses on the tables of the House of Commons dining room I was delighted to help."

The refreshment department's cheese selection always has regional specialities, said the MP.

"I know that my colleagues and their guests are going to enjoy tasting some of the best traditional cheese from Dorset."