CUSTOMERS who lost their doorstep milk deliveries when Gundenham Dairies ended the service it started 94 years ago are turning instead to local micro-dairy The Milk Shed.

The family-run Milk Shed business, based in Chelston, Wellington, was launched in June of last year and only began its own twice a week doorstep deliveries during the past summer.

Now, Mark and Nicky Dunster have been fielding calls from customers hoping they can pick up from where Gundenham has left off.

Mrs Dunster said: “We have been absolutely inundated. It is a very sad thing because Gundenham is a company that has been going for absolutely years. I do feel sorry for the elderly who cannot get out much.

“We have had a few people who are quite panicky and worried and it is a real shame.

“At the moment we can definitely take on some, but we will get to the point where we have to say we are at our limit. We are a small family-run business so it is just not quite the same as it is with the bigger businesses.

“We have a limit as to how much milk the cows are producing.”

Currently, the The Milk Shed delivers on Tuesdays and Thursdays to doorsteps in an area covering Wellington, West Buckland, Bradford on Tone, Oake, and Milverton, and aims to reach customers by 7am at the latest.

However, Mrs Dunster said Milk Shed customers received a very different product and service from that provided by Gundenham.

She said: “We do not do semi-skimmed or skimmed milk, it is whole milk from our cows, and it is gently pasteurised, not homogenised, so there is cream on top, and it is in one-litre re-useable glass bottles.”

Gundenham Dairy stopped its doorstep deliveries at the end of last week but is continuing to serve wholesale and retail customers.