A CREATIVE baker has launched her own business during lockdown – gathering nearly 5,000 followers on Instagram.

Aimée Soudry, a Radcliffe-based mum, lost most of her marketing work in April as lockdown hit.

Whilst stuck at home, she started thinking of other ways to channel her creativity – deciding to work on her pastry creation skills after growing tired of baking banana bread.

Inspired by her husband's French heritage, Mrs Soudry started baking croissants, leaving them on the doorsteps of neighbours and local friends and family.

She started positing pictures of her latest creations on Instagram, where they became a huge hit, birthing the Saint Croissants brand.

Mrs Soudry said: “I’m a creative person and six weeks into lockdown I realised how well take out and food delivery services were doing. I thought about how I could create something new and unique that would be a delicious treat, and also make people smile during this tricky time. That’s how Saint was born.

“I probably baked around 1,000 croissants in the first 8 weeks alone, which was absolutely crazy and brilliant. I never expected the business to take off like it did.

"When I was consistently getting messages from people as far as The Cotswolds, London, Glasgow and Cardiff, I knew I had to create a website and start offering deliveries further afield.

“This has been an amazing journey so far and I’m really excited to see how the business grows over the next six months."

Mrs Soudry's work was a huge hit on social media, with nearly 5,000 people following her page to take a look at the colourful creations.

Now offering croissants and cronuts – a doughnut-croissant hybrid – Saints Croissants delivers the loaded pastries to Greater Manchester, Cheshire, West Yorkshire, and parts of Staffordshire – but people from all corners of the country have been dying to get their hands on them.

With unique flavour combinations, such as popping candy & Love Hearts, Oreo cheesecake, and a chocolate orange croissant named after the hit Netflix show The Tiger King, it's not hard to see why they've attracted lots of attention.

Mrs Soudry is currently working on setting up a UK-wide courier service for her goods, as well as a merchandise range for the brand.

Visit saintcroissants.co.uk, or @Saintcroissants on Instagram for more information or to see the delicious treats available.