Best of British; dave myers the big interview.

IN THEIR new series, the Hairy Bikers cook everything from snails to mussels and cockles to laver bread without breaking a sweat.

They take unusual ingredients in their stride, but even they were a little taken aback to discover what one fan added to her dishes.

Dave Myers - the shorter, darker one of the pair - remembers: "This woman queued to meet us at a book signing and produced a cake she'd made.

"As we were eating it, she declared 'the best scones I ever tasted were made with my own breast milk'.

"It was a bit of a shock! We suddenly lost our appetites then."

Dave also reveals how, in some quarters, the Hairy Bikers are unlikely sex symbols.

"The other week we had a letter asking for a picture for an engagement present. They were quite rude, saying they didn't like us but their friend fancied us, so could we send a photo of us with our shirts off! We won't be doing that. Well, maybe for a calendar if it's very arty!" After travelling round the world for the Hairy Bikers' Cookbook, Dave and his mate Simon King stayed on home ground for their latest TV series.

And they certainly got to know the UK, travelling a whopping 15,000 miles of it, from Aberdeenshire to Cornwall, to visit 30 of the 86 counties in the British Isles.

That means hours spent in the saddles of their Midland-made Triumph Rocket III, 2,300cc motorbikes.

"Kingy reckons he's got shares in haemorrhoid cream!" laughs Dave. "The toughest journey was more than 500 miles from Cumbria to Cornwall, riding in snow in minus two degrees."

The Hairy Bikers' Food Tour Of Britain starts tomorrow and is shown every weekday teatime on BBC2 for six weeks.

Several of the programmes come from Midland counties, including Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Derbyshire and Herefordshire.

From asparagus in the Vale of Evesham to Staffordshire oatcakes made in Lichfield, from Hereford beef and snails to pheasants shot in Shropshire, the bikers taste the cream of the Midlands' crop.

In each episode, they visit the county town to cook that county's signature dish in front of an audience. Then they gather ingredients from nearby producers to take part in a cook-off against a top local chef.

Dave is speaking on a rare break between filming, his first 'day off' for two weeks.

"It's been hard in the last few months, being away so much.

"I was home a fortnight ago, but only for a day. And then I wasn't off, I was preparing the recipes to use the following week. The family get a nice dinner made for them, but we don't get the chance to hang out and watch telly together afterwards because I have to disappear and write it up."

Dave studied art at Goldsmith Art School in London, then worked as a make-up artist on Prime Suspect, The Forsyte Saga and Catherine Cookson dramas like Gambling Man with Robson Green.

It was on one of the Cookson films that he meet Simon King, a location manager, who shared his love of food and motorbikes.

Dave has had to overcome several obstacles to get where he is today, including his own ill health and that of loved ones.

His mother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when he was eight, forcing him to care for her and learn to cook. He had to look after his father too when he suffered a stroke when Dave was 17. His dad died when he was 20 and his mum three years later.

The stress of his mother's MS diagnosis was thought to have brought on Dave's alopecia. All his hair, including his eyebrows and eyelashes, fell out, but miraculously it grew back after he had brain surgery at 41 to drain a benign cyst.

Tragedy struck again 10 years ago when his fiance was diagnosed with stomach cancer and died just four months later.

Now Dave lives in his home town of Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria with his partner Lili and her 14-yearold daughter.

Away from cooking, he's appeared on programmes like Shooting Stars, The Weakest Link, Hole in the Wall and Celebrity Mastermind.

He won his round of Mastermind with his knowledge of the PreRaphaelite Brotherhood of painters and was all set to return for more questions on a rather less academic subject.

Dave reveals: "They tried to get people together for semi-finals and finals, but it wasn't possible. I was going to do Van Gogh's relationship with Paul Gaugin in the semifinals, then if I got through I'd choose the cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants.

"My step-daughter used to watch it every morning, so I got into it. SpongeBob is brilliant!"

fact file

NAME: David Myers AGE: 51 CV: Dave has appeared on The Hairy Bikers Cookbook, Saturday Kitchen and The Hairy Bakers. FANCY THAT: He started illegally riding motorbikes when he was just 12. Now he owns four including a Hesketh V1000 and Benelli Tornado.

CAPTION(S):

Dave Myers (right) with fellow Hairy Biker Simon King, and (below) the pair with Neil Wainwright shooting pheasants in Shropshire.