High street bakery Greggs has confirmed that it is launching a vegan-friendly sausage roll just in time for Veganuary.

Rumours of the development of a vegan sausage roll have been circulating for some time now following strong customer demand.

Earlier this year, a petition for the menu item was even launched by the international animal rights group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and garnered more than 20,000 signatures.

In a blog post, PETA said, “More people than ever are clamouring for vegan options from their favourite on-the-go eateries, and PETA urged Greggs to heed this growing demand by launching a vegan sausage roll.”

In December, a leaked email all but confirmed a plant-based version of the pastry dish with a representative writing: “We’re really excited about the launch of the Vegan Sausage Roll as we know you and our customers will be too.”

And now the high street bakery has confirmed that the product will indeed be released in 950 of its stores on 3 January.

The vegan-friendly sausage roll will feature pastry made using vegetable oil and contain a “bespoke Quorn filling”.

Roger Whiteside, chief executive at Greggs, said: “Like many food retailers we have seen increasing demand for vegetarian and vegan products. We have been trying to develop a vegan version of our famous sausage roll for some time now.

The new product will feature a “bespoke Quorn filling” (Youtube: Greggs)

“It has not been easy but our taste panel customers all love this one, so we have decided to launch it as our contribution to Veganuary.”

Across the UK, the demand for vegan food is rising with more and more brands launching products to cater for plant-based diets.

This week, Waitrose announced that is launching a range of own-brand Fishless Fingers in its stores, which are made from breaded seaweed tofu with a crispy coating.

Chloe Graves, chilled vegan and vegetarian buyer at Waitrose & Partners says: “After the successful launch of our new vegan and vegetarian range in October 2018 we’ve been working to see what other interesting dishes and products we can add to the range.