A Canadian baker has been crowned as the world champion of pasty makers - after scoring 96 out of 100 in the World Pasty Championships.

Gerry Ramier, from St Catherines, Ontario, was awarded the top title at the sixth annual championships, held at the Eden Project, last Saturday.

He runs the Piskie Pie Company, based in Ontario, with his wife, Marlee, and learned to make the local delicacy after visiting his mother, Melanie Lampshire.

Gerry achieved the joint highest score for the whole competition, after qualifying for the Cornish pasty professional category by baking his pasty in Cornwall.

Gerry, a Canadian Army Veteran, said: "I’m overwhelmed and it’s a little mind-boggling to be honest. I didn’t expect that whatsoever.

"My mother will be pretty excited - we’re going to head straight over there and tell her.

“We’ll definitely be back next year. We’ll be trying to up our game, but I don’t know where we can go from here.”

Cornish Premier Pasties of St Columb swept the board in the company categories, taking two awards for open savoury and Cornish.

Fiona Rick, director of Cornish Premier Pasties, said: "I’m absolutely stunned and delighted. I really love our Red Thai Chicken pasty. Everyone at Cornish Premier Pasties will be so pleased.”

Also victorious in the championships were Don McKeever, Vanessa Farr and Megan Packer, part of a group that make the annual pilgrimage from Bristol to Cornwall.

Don retained his title in the open savoury amateur category with his 'Boeuf BourguignDon' pasty, and Vanessa won in the Cornish pasty amateur class, while Megan was the champion in the open savoury junior category with a barbecue chicken pasty.

Don said: “It’s a shock to retain my title, I didn’t think I could do it again. I’m really pleased.

"We wouldn’t miss the World Pasty Championships for the world - we love coming here and I’m sure we’ll come here for many more years to come.”

David Timmins from St Columb, who took the open savoury professional class, scored the joint highest in the competition, also achieving a score of 96 out of 100.