A HEREFORD burger company's expertise was mentioned by a senior Tory MP in a speech about the importance of a free market and in reference to how she likes her burgers cooked.

Liz Truss, second-in-command for the Treasury, brought up the Rule of Tum's Burger Shop during a speech to the London School of Economics.

The MP came across the business' pop-up shop in Hay-on-Wye while she was in the town to talk at the How The Light Gets In Festival.

Speaking about the country's economic model she said she wanted the consumer to have a choice, and not to leave it to the state to decide.

She said: "Or take burgers. I keep being told by excellent burger producers, whether it’s the Burger Shop in Hay-On-Wye or Bleecker Street in London, that there are strict restrictions against selling medium rare.

"Why can’t I as a consumer decide, as I would be in most parts of the USA, or France?

"Regulations against my tastes in burgers may see a little trivial, but they are symptomatic of a broader malaise.

"Unnecessary red tape restricts business and consumer freedom, so I believe we should cut it wherever we can."

The Rule of Tum is run by brothers Dorian and Ed Kirk and includes The Burger Shop and The Bookshop in Aubrey Street in Hereford.

The Burger Shop, which opened in 2014, had been giving diners a choice up until a month ago of how they like their burgers cooked including the option of medium rare.

But the Food Standards Agency [FSA] and the local Health and Safety said they were no longer allowed to serve the burgers this way.

Earlier this year the FSA released details of new regulations stating that all businesses serving minced meat products, such as burgers, must obtain specific approval to serve them anything less than thoroughly cooked.

Any restaurants wishing to serve less than thoroughly cooked burgers will need to seek verification from their meat supplier that they are approved either by the FSA or their local authority. This is due to concern that bacteria, like E. coli, which tends to be found on the outside surfaces of meat, can be mixed in with the meat when it is minced.

But Dorian said: "It is about giving the customer a choice. We put lots of things in place to ensure that the quality of the grass-fed local meat we use from Farmer Tom is of the topmost quality. We know and trust the source. We want to give the customer the offer of medium rare which you can in France and the USA."

He said there are only three abattoirs in the country which are FSA approved, which makes it harder for smaller producers.

Dorian said: "It is not supporting the local economy." The Rule of Tum is hoping to open a butchers shop in Hereford.