A four-decade-old burnt Holland’s pie has become a family treasure in one home.

The blackened 1970s meat pie made at the firm’s Baxenden factory, is now a family heirloom, and has pride of place on Tony Johnson’s wall.

The pie has travelled all over the world with Tony and his family, on trips to Barbados, Egypt, Morocco and the US.

Tony’s son-in-law Mark, who is an RAF officer, has taken the pie on tour to the Falklands, Kuwait and Cyprus, while his army grandsons have taken it to Iraq.

However Tony joked: "They’re allowed to take it but only if they look after it – if they don’t, there’s no point coming back."

The pie has been the source of many practical jokes over the years, as Tony, 73, and his wife Alicia have hidden it into their children’s luggage when they’ve gone away.

They bought the pie back in 1971, when their then eight-year-old son Carl received it from a friend after it had been left in the oven overnight.

The fun started when Alicia took the pie to Blackpool, and ever since then it’s joined the pair on their trips around the world in a special black box that Tony made for it.

Tony, of Sandfield Road, Bacup, says they haven’t added anything to the pie to preserve it – it’s simply been burnt solid.

Tony was even offered £7,000 for it, but says that it’s not for sale. He said: "Although at the time the offer was very attractive, my family would have killed me if I’d have sold it.

"It’s been fantastic fun over the years, we’ve had some great laughs with it."