Bosses at Hambleton sausage makers Heck have defended the company following a visit by Conservative leadership candidate Boris Johnson last week.
The company received a backlash from some social media users after the the Tory MP visited its factory near Kirklington last week ahead of taking part in hustings in the region.
Hundreds of people took to Twitter to say they would be boycotting Heck after Johnson was pictured with a string of sausages around his neck brandishing packs of Boris Bangers made in his honour.
But Heck co-founder Andrew Keeble insisted the brand had no political affiliation “and didn’t mean to cause offence or upset anyone”.
He said: “We have an open invitation to all members of all parties to come and answer the question about what they are going to do to help secure the future of our European workforce and team members.
Co-founder Debbie Keeble Heck said they had invited both Conservative leadership candidates, Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt, with Johnson accepting the invitation and arriving with local MP Rishi Sunak.
She added: “We do not specifically endorse any candidate.
“We want to know how our Brexit will affect our business and team. We wanted to seize upon the chance to ask them what they are going to do to secure the long-term future of people working in Yorkshire who are from Europe.
”You have to work with who is going to be in power whatever your political view, dialogue is the only way forward. We are not political and not selling sausages to support anyone.”
During his visit, Johnson agreed to support Heck’s plans for a £4m Sausage World attraction in North Yorkshire.
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