FOUR young chefs were cooking up a storm in Bournemouth as they took part in the final of the Yes Chef! contest.

The finalists had to prepare a meal for 40 guests including parents, teachers, business people and members from the hospitality industry at The Carlton Hotel.

Guests enjoyed a lunch of pasta followed by panna cotta at the event which was organised by The Enterprise & Skills Com-pany, an education and not-for-profit business which creates opportunities for students to create a culture of enterprise and entrepreneurship.

Finalists Robert Sharpe and Tom Redcliffe, from Twynham School in Christchurch, Sean-Paul Phippard from Lytchett Minster and Gianpiero Placidi from The Thomas Hardye School in Dorchester made it through three rounds, beating more than 80 students from schools across Dorset.

Each pupil was given the same ingredients, donated by Harvest Fine Foods, to interpret into a pasta dish of their own creation, and a panna cotta, for 10 guests and the judges who were chaired by Gary Kilminster from Bournemouth & Poole College.

The finalists will all be visiting The Pig Country House Hotel & Res-taurant in Brockenhurst for a kitchen experience, working alongside head chef James Golding as a prize for reaching the final stage of the contest. They each also received a signed book by chef Michel Roux Jr.

Winner Sean-Paul Phippard also took home a set of professional chef knives donated by sponsor Harvest Fine Foods.

He will now take part in a live cookery demonstration at the Wimborne Food Festival in October, alongside Gary Kilminster.