KEEN cooks in Abingdon have been named the best young chefs in Oxfordshire and are set to represent the county in the Create & Cook finals.

Abigail Dalby and Alice Hodges, from St Helen and St Katharine school, were crowned the Oxfordshire winners last week at a regional final of the competition, which is run by fit2cook food education and sponsored by The Midcounties Co-operative,

The pair, both aged 14, were up against three other schools and challenged to create a menu from the wealth of locally-produced ingredients the county has to offer.

They wowed judges Mark Chandler, owner of the award-winning White Hart restaurant in Fyfield, fit2cook director Min Raisman and The Midcounties Co-operative’s Matt Fletcher with their Oxfordshire chicken, chorizo and crayfish paella with courgette brownies and raspberry sorbet.

The finals will take place at The Foodworks Cookery School near Cheltenham in July.