Cheese sniffer's nose insured for £5m

A Somerset cheese firm is to insure its Master Cheese Grader's nose for £5m.

Nigel Pooley, 63, has been grading cheese for the commercial market for the last 12 years.

His employers, Wyke Farms, have now approached Lloyds of London to insure Mr Pooley's sense of smell, at a cost of £25,000 per year.



A Lloyds spokesman said: "Mr Pooley breaks new ground as our first cheese nose."
The £5m payout tag is calculated from the time it would take to replace Mr Pooley - five weeks - multiplied by the firm's weekly turnover of £1m.

Mr Pooley said: "Over the years, I discovered that I have a good palate and a knack for selecting good commercial cheese. It's something that I enjoy doing."