FORGET your salted peanuts, pork scratchings or pickled eggs.

The pub snack of the future has arrived in Huddersfield – horsemeat jerky.

The savoury snack is on sale at award-winning pub The Grove at Springwood.

And landlord Ian Hayes is hoping his customers will be willing to sample the latest bar snack with their pint of real ale.

“All the fuss about the horsemeat scandal is because of the misleading labelling on the packets,” said Ian.

“This product is exactly what it says – it’s 100% horsemeat that has been marinated in herbs or spices before it has been dried.

“I’ve had some and it tastes lovely. I’m sure many of my customers will be willing to give it a go.”

Ian, who has run the popular pub for almost seven years, has bought up supplies of the horsemeat under the My Brittle Pony label in four different flavours.

The snack sells for £3.30 a pack.

There is horsemeat jerky flavoured with sea salt and black pepper.

Another is Black Beauty, which is seasoned with Guinness, onions, garlic and herbs.

A third is Worcester S’Orse, which, as the name implies, is marinated in Worcestershire sauce.

And finally he’s got Phwar Horse, which is a spicy concoction of chillies, paprika and soy sauce.

Pub manager Brian Dickson said: “It tastes very good. I’m sure our customers will snap it up.”

Jerky is made of lean meat stripped of all fat and cut into thin strips, which are then dried or smoked.

It is a popular dish from around the world and meats from domestic animals include cows, pigs, goat and sheep are used.

There is also a trend towards more exotic animals including deer, elk, caribou, kudu, springbok, kangaroo, bison and moose.

Some manufacturers have also produced jerky using meat from turkey, ostrich, salmon, alligator, tuna, emu and camel.

Frozen burger sales are down by 43% and frozen ready meals by 13% in the wake of the horsemeat contamination scandal, despite consumers suggesting they would be happy to eat the product in future, new figures suggest.

Two polls have found a significant number of consumers would be happy to eat horsemeat providing it was “safe” and properly labelled.