BIRCHWOOD Primary School’s chef has scooped second place at a national award contest.

Justyna Rutkowska, 35, won the regional final earlier in the year and then took part in the national final this week.

The event, organised by Lead Association for Catering in Education (LACA), featured 10 finalists from across the UK who all work in school catering.

Justyna, who lives in Warrington, impressed the judges with her dishes of Cluck Cluck Chicken Stew – a chicken in a rich tomato and tarragon sauce, tatties and neeps nest and creamed carrots and her Chocolate Munch Crunch – a chocolate and coconut brownie with crunchy Cheerio topping and raspberry coulis.

With first-hand experience of the challenges of feeding young people, finalists had to demonstrate their cooking skills with healthy and creative school meals.

The preparation, cooking, creativity and presentation skills of school chefs were all put to the test.

At all stages of the competition, each contestant had a maximum of £1.30 to spend and just 90 minutes to prepare their dishes.

They were required to produce a healthy balanced two-course meal consisting of a main course and dessert that would appeal to eleven-year-olds in school.

The meals of all competitors had to comply with the School Food Standards and consider the Eat Well Guide 2016.

The judges also wanted to see evidence of use of locally sourced ingredients and the use of sustainable products.

Tim Blowers, LACA national chairman, said: “LACA School Chef of the Year is an excellent way of showing why all schools nationwide should be striving for a high-quality school meals service.

"It’s a snapshot of the passion and expertise of today’s school chefs and of the commitment and professionalism they put into producing high quality meals every single day in schools across the country.”