Long-haul passengers who decide to enjoy an in-flight movie can also indulge in lip-smacking ice cream made in Yorkshire.

As they settle into their luxurious seats, the Virgin Atlantic cabin crew offer them a juicy ice-lolly -- all the way from Cononley, near Skipton.

The Yorkshire Dales Ice Cream company has a deal with Sir Richard Branson's company to provide it with real dairy ice-cream, surrounded by lip-smacking raspberry.

Gillian Emmott, who works in sales, said: "It's a small stick-ice which passengers are offered when they watch the movie. It's very tasty and made with real dairy ice-cream."

The ices are offered on long-haul outward bound flights from Britain throughout the world.

"We have the e-mail number of the company on the wrapper and we've had lots of messages from people in America saying how much they like them.

"We even had someone from the US visit us to see where they were made when he was visiting Britain," she said.

The deal is just another example of business nous reaping rewards for the family firm, run by Tim and Liz Wilson.

With the recent hot weather, there has been a run on demand for Yorkshire Dales Ice Cream.

Mrs Wilson said: "We have not suddenly had to up production because we work on the basis that we will have a surge in demand in the summer and we take that into account." She set up the business with her husband in 1984 with a staff of only six.

They now employ 75 and are the biggest independent manufacturer of dairy ice cream in the country.

"We have been very fortunate and had a rapid growth - 27 per cent last year and up on that this year," she added. The contract with Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic was just one of a number of deals the company had with other major companies to supply ice-cream.

They also supplied the frozen-food giant Iceland with space pods, strawberry, vanilla or chocolate-flavoured ice-cream balls, shaped smaller than a pea, which can be poured into a dish.

She said her company was the largest independent company producing proper dairy ice cream with cream, milk, eggs and natural fruit. She said about 80 per cent of ice-cream sold in Britain was made of vegetable fat.

e-mail: clive.white@bradford.

newsquest.co.uk