A HUSBAND-AND-WIFE team best known for their family bakery's pies are expanding their sideline of eco-friendly travel products.

Tony Gelder, who is a partner in Sunderland firm Gelder’s Bakers, and wife Shirley started up Joshua Tree Essentials last year to sell insect repellent bands they discovered while on holiday in Mexico.

The couple and daughter Victoria have now been selling the bands, which are infused with natural essential oils and are chemical-free, for a year.

They have the UK distribution rights from the US company which makes the products. Now the business, which is named after the Gelders’ grandson Joshua, is branching out into sunscreen.

Shirley said: “We always intended to increase the product range and the ideal choice for us was biodegradable sunscreen as it fits in with the company ethos.”

The couple were concerned about research that showed traditional suncare lotions and sprays can cause damage to fragile reef eco-systems, known as coral bleaching. Worldwide, around 10% of coral reefs are at risk of coral bleaching from sunscreen products.

Joshua Tree’s Aloe Up sun care range is reef-friendly and biodegradable and the children’s version is hypoallergenic.