A FORMER bus driver who is embarking on a trip around the world made sure to make a stop in his hometown to sample some of his beloved Burchall's pies.

Trevor Kay, who emigrated to Australia in the early 1990s, had always missed the taste of the hot and juicy pork pies from the Westfield Street shop.

Burchall's has been providing St Helens and surrounding areas with quality meat and pies for more than a century.

In 2006 Trevor, who worked as a bus driver in Brisbane, wrote to the Star to say how much he missed "the best pies in the world" and that the thought of them often made him homesick.

And when he made a return to the UK Trevor's story featured in the Star.

Trevor, now 60, has spent the past few months travelling round South East Asia as he goes on a tour of the world and he made sure he included Burchall's on his list.

Pie-maker John Burchall posed for a picture with Trevor during his visit to the town centre shop.

And comedian Johnny Vegas even walked past and stopped by for a chat with Trevor.

During his brief stay in St Helens, Trevor, who grew up in Parr, said: "I'm on my way to South America, I'm on a bucket list at the moment.

"Then I'll be doing Blackpool, one of my ambitions is to stay in Blackpool overlooking the sea. I've travelled to a few places in Asia including Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia."

His love affair with Burchall's began when he was a teenager working at Pilks.

"I was an apprentice and worked as a 'Lodge Lad' before that so I used to go and collect the pies. I was telling John I remember coming here when I was 16.

"It was a bit of a shock having a pie after a few years. When I had lived in South East Asia you lose that little cultural touch," added Trevor, who will return to the town in mid-June before travelling up to the Lake District and Blackpool.

"They still taste as nice as they did."