For years residents of a village between Moscow and St Petersburg have been offering traditional Russian snacks to drivers travelling between the two cities.

Now, however, one of the oldest small businesses in the country is under threat.

As the workhorses of Russian trade trundle by ferrying goods between the country's two main cities, the women of Krestsy make sure they're fuelled up. It's not diesel that's on offer, though, but the finest in traditional Russian snacks and tea sold at the roadside. The whole village is now involved in the booming trade, with Krestsy famed among truckers for its fair.

Almost all the women in Krestsy make tea and pirozhki – traditional pies. While the snacks might be small in size this is big business for the village and for long-distance drivers it provides vital fuel for the road.

But something rather unexpected is threatening to close down the village industry. The pirozhki-sellers are not licensed and so fall foul of district officials who want to ban this kind of roadside business, claiming it's unhygienic. Two new areas to sell the pirozhki pies have been offered by the authorities but locals say they're totally unsuitable, being too small to cope with all the truckers who'd have to turn off the road in their juggernauts.

We’re trying to negotiate with these people. If they want to sell, we’ll let them sell, but everything should be done according to medical standards and rules. Also the way they sell is dangerous. They sit very near the road. Every year we have incidents where people die because of car accidents,“ says Krestsy Mayor Aleksandr Tarasov explaining his stance.

It was all started by Lidia Belova, who is now 76 years old. Twelve years ago, the village received a devastating body-blow when a local furniture factory shut down. Many like Lidia lost their jobs and were left to survive on a pittance of a pension. But fortune favours the brave and Lidia turned to the teapot and oven for her survival, since when business has boomed since.

I have been earning my living like this for more then 12 years. I had no other choice. At the beginning I was only selling my pirozhki, but then I understood that selling tea together would be even better. To make it look more homely I started to bring tea in Russian samovars. It attracts attention as well as keeping the tea hot for a long time,” says Lidia revealing some of her professional secrets.

Lidia's neighbours followed her success and soon the whole village was making tea and pies to sell. Truckers now come in their thousands as their stomachs start to rumble.

“It takes a lot of time to eat in a cafe and here one can quickly eat and leave. I’m sure every single driver who comes along this route has his own seller where he prefers to eat in this village,” said one of the drivers.

The truckers want food, the locals want to sell, but the authorities want their laws observed. The battle of the pirozhki and samovars has reached boiling point. One side is likely to get burnt.