STUDENTS at Oxford Brookes University slugged it out to find the best plot of the lot.

The Best Brookes Vegetable Plot competition was judged by Anne Marie Owens, head gardener at Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons, and Jo Campbell, the Great Milton hotel’s head vegetable gardener.

Osteopathy student Ben Wilkins scooped first prize and will get the chance to recreate his garden in Malawi at a well sponsored by the university through development charity the One Foundation.

Mr Wilkins said: “I’m very much looking forward to going.”

The garden scheme began last November, with 24 plots created by staff and students at the Wheatley campus, funded by Chartwells, the university’s catering company.

Phillipa Fletcher, conference and commercial services manager for Oxford Brookes, said: “We are delighted to be working with the One Foundation and the excellent work they do in supporting some of the poorest communities in Africa.”