Voice-over artist Anthony Richardson may find himself at odds with lovers of DreamWorks hit Turbo, featuring the ­adventures of an animated snail.

Mr Richardson, of Fox Grove, Godmanchester, whose voice on the advertisements accompanying the film is resounding throughout UK cinemas, has developed a passion for eating Turbo’s mates – the common garden snail.

The 3D computer-animated film tells the story of a snail, voiced by Hollywood heart-throb Ryan Reynolds, whose dream is to become world’s fastest snail.

The snails residing between Fox Grove and the cricket field in Godmanchester will need to kick into overdrive and miraculously discover the power of super speed if they are to escape the grips of Mr Richardson and his son Barnaby, 14.

“Not sure my agent would be too pleased if she found out that I might have inadvertently eaten one of Turbo’s buddies.” joked Mr Richardson, who has been doing voice-overs for 30 years.

“It was just a coincidence that I was out on a run with my club, BRJ Run & Tri, recently when my running partner mentioned her French friend regularly collected snails and cooked her own escargot,” said Mr Richardson.

“My son and I liked the idea of sourcing our own food and so that’s exactly what we did, collecting 127 in no time at all between our house and the cricket field.

“We looked on the internet and there were lots of garden snail recipes. Evidently, it’s a big myth you have to use special edible snails.

“We put the snails in a tub and fed them like kings for two weeks on rosemary, rocket and parsley, washing them every other day in rainwater. It is like an internal marinade.”

On the last two days of the ‘marinating’ the snails were fed on carrots and then put in a Kilner jar in the fridge to send them into hybernation, before being boiled for an hour-and-a-half and then being served with a sauce of tomatoes, garlic and basil.

“Barnaby and I thought they were delicious and well worth the wait!” said Mr Richardson ... whose older son Jordan, 15, opted for fish and chips.

INFORMATION: Anthony Richardson is one of the readers for Listening Books, a charity for those who cannot read the printed word in the usual way, the patron of which is Stephen Fry. More details can be found on his website at www.overvoice.co.uk.

Barney’s Snail Spaghetti Recipe

Ingredients

British Garden Snails

Tinned tomatoes

Red Chilli peppers

Salami (Peperami Hot)

Chopped olives

Salt

Lemon juice

Bay Leaf

Coriander

2x Onions

Peppercorns

For the Pasta

The above prepared snails

Garlic, finely chopped

Chilli, chopped

Corriander, chopped

Peperami, chopped

Olives, chopped

Olive Oil

Butter

Spaghetti

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Preparation

1. Wash the snails well in several changes of cold water

2. Plunge the snails in salted boiling water, with some red wine vinegar, removing any froth that rises to the surface

3. After five minutes, drain the snails and boil in more seasoned water with the lemon juice, onions, a bay leaf and peppercorns

4. Continue cooking for two hours, removing any further froth

5. When the snails are done they should be easy to remove from their shells

To make the pasta

1. Remove the snails from the shells

2. Boil the spaghetti in plenty of water with olive oil. When cooked, drain and keep aside

3. Heat some more olive oil and butter in a large pan and fry the, onion, garlic, Peperami and chilli

4. Add the cooked snails and tinned tomatoes and reduce (adding a splash of red wine to taste)

5. Saute the mixture on high heat

6. Throw your pasta into a bowl and add the snail mixture

7. Add your chopped coriander for garnish

8. Season to taste and serve hot