Thousands of votes have been cast to help draw up the shortlist of the top food and drink producers in the county.

More than 150 businesses across 13 categories received nominations in the inaugural Buckinghamshire Food and Drink Awards.

Around 29,000 votes were cast by foodies in the county to help decide who makes the finest foods in Bucks - with plenty of contenders in the south in with a shout of winning one of the awards.

All five of the nominees in the Independent Food Retailer/Producer of the Year category are from south Bucks: Little Stanleys Homemade from Amersham, No 2 Pound Street in Wendover, High Wycombe-based Seasons Farm Shop, Pretty Perfect Cakes in Princes Risborough and Jordan’s Village Stores.

The two south Bucks companies nominated for the Outstanding Service Excellence Award - The Artichoke restaurant in Amersham and Malt the Brewery in Great Missenden - were nominated in other categories. The Artichoke was also shortlisted for the Best Fine Dining Restaurant alongside La Petite Auberge in Great Missenden, while Malt the Brewery was nominated for Best Microbrewery next to Marlow Bottom's Rebellion Brewery.

There were also two nominations for the Little Chalfont-based Rex Bakery, in the categories for Best Artisan Bakery - alongside Chesham's Darvell and Sons - and Best Newcomer; a category that also saw Chesham businesses Duende Pop Up and The Little Orchard nominated.

The Little Orchard also received a nomination for Best Local Independent Tea/Coffee Shop, as did Seasons Cafe @ Rowan in Chalfont St Giles.

Amersham duo Gilbey's and Blue Orchid are both shortlisted for Restaurant of the Year, while The Treehouse in Beaconsfield is on a shortlist of three for Best Cocktail Menu.

The Jolly Cricketers in Seer Green, The Queens Head in Little Marlow and The Tree Hotel in High Wycombe have all been nominated for Best Gastropub.

Among the nominees for Best Farmers Market Stallholder are Chiltern Farm Foods and Stockings Farm in Amersham and David Skyrme at Nortons Farm in High Wycombe Stockings Farm, while the final category sees Amersham's Mayo Brothers and N Stirett of Great Missenden shortlisted for Best Independent Butcher.

Karen McGeeney of the Buckinghamshire Food and Drink Awards said: "We had a phenomenal response to these first ever awards. Some 159 Buckinghamshire venues were nominated with a staggering 29,000 votes cast.

"These amazing numbers show that the public of Buckinghamshire have an insatiable appetite for quality, local venues. It is a superb achievement to get through to this stage and we are excited about making the announcement on June 1."

The Grand Final will be held at Horwood House in Little Horwood from 12-2pm.

For more information on the awards and a full list of nominees visit www.bfda.co.uk.