POLISH delicacies such as plum chocolate and smoked spicy sausage are travelling hundreds of miles to fill the shelves of a new business.

So great is the need for goods locally that Norbert Kaminski and his wife Marieta have opened the Polish Delicatessen in Weymouth.

Many Poles came to England to find work when their country joined the EU in 2004, among them the Kaminskis who settled on Portland. Their eldest daughter Nicola, now 11, was one of the first Polish children to enrol at a Dorset school.

People who work with Poles locally say the recession has affected numbers but there are still many who live in the area.

A Catholic mass is said every month especially for the Polish community at St Augustine’s Church in Weymouth.

Figures from Dorset County Council show that 550 Polish people registered for a National Insurance number in 2007/08. Last year it had fallen to 300.

The Polish Delicatessen in King Street opened towards the end of last year but it got its official launch when Mayor of Weymouth and Portland Anne Kenwood was invited to cut the ribbon watched by a crowd, some of whom wore traditional Polish dress for the occasion.

Mr Kaminski, 35, a builder by trade, makes regular trips to his homeland to collect produce because he says it is cheaper than buying from distributors in the UK.

The couple are building a loyal customer base with local Poles but also with Dorset residents attracted by the goods on offer. Some of the products look familiar but some foods, including Polish bread, cheese, meat and sweets would be hard to find in the high street.

A number of local convenience stores stock Polish lines but this is the first shop in the area selling goods exclusively from the country. The nearest ones are in Yeovil and Bournemouth.

Mrs Kaminski, 32, said: “We do have a few English people come in and they are most welcome. We’re not just for Polish people.”

She added: “We are seeing new faces all the time so I think there is a need for a Polish store.”

Coun Kenwood said: “I’m delighted it’s opened here. A lot of Polish people have come to live in our borough so a shop like this is great – and not just for people of Polish origin.”