The Blacksmith's Arms at Rothwell, in the Lincolnshire Wolds, has gone into school dinners as a sideline. The profits are only a few thousand pounds a year, but for Ian Quill, the owner, the extra income is a lifeline and helps to keep the pub open.

The venture was made possible by a grant of almost £10,000 from the East Midlands Development Corporation, with the support of the county council, to pay for industrial fridges, freezers, a large fryer and vegetable steamer. Mr Quill put in £2,000 for an oven.

Sue Jerem said that when she told friends she was taking a new job making school dinners, they were left baffled. “They said to me, 'How will you stand all those screaming kids?'. Then I told them, 'I don't see any kids, I just go to work at the pub'.”

A team of seven under the supervision of Mrs Jerem now prepares 250 to 300 meals a day for children in primary schools within a radius of ten miles. The schools are billed £1.80 per meal. After salaries and food costs, the profit is small. But with electricity and gas bills doubled, and trade down 10 per cent since the smoking ban, every penny counts.

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