CELEBRITY pig farmer Jimmy Doherty has announced his engagement to his long-term girlfriend.

Lizzie Parry

CELEBRITY pig farmer Jimmy Doherty has announced his engagement to his long-term girlfriend.

The star of the BBC television show Jimmy's Farm got down on bended knee to pop the question to his partner Michaela Furney.

The couple, who both live and work at the farm, at Wherstead, near Ipswich, first met in 2002 on the set of Jimmy's friend Jamie Oliver's Channel 4 series Jamie's Kitchen when filming on the Cumbrian farm where Jimmy was working at the time.

A former production assistant, Miss Furney helped Mr Doherty set up the Essex Pig Company at the farm where the pair promote free-range farming practices to produce high quality meat, specialising in rare breeds such as the Essex pig.

A spokeswoman for Jimmy's Farm said were delighted at the news and were looking forward to the impending wedding.

“Our very own Jimmy and Michaela have just got engaged,” she said. “Everyone at the farm is over the moon and looking forward to a muddy wedding in the near future.”

To celebrate the happy news a new range of Valentine's Sausages and Hampers have been launched for couples to share with their loved ones.

The new heart shaped, Jimmy's Love Sausage, is a heart shaped version of the classic Essex recipe sausage made with 94% rare breed pork, seasoning and cracked black pepper.

Three different hampers are available, the breakfast hamper, a steak dinner hamper and a pork belly hamper all with recipes and locally sourced ingredients.

The hampers can be purchased at the online shop at www.jimmysfarm.com/shop or they can be bought from the Farm Shop.