Celebrity chefs will be cooking up a storm at the Bridport Food Festival from June 9 to 16.

Over the last 10 years the festival, backed by the Bridport and Lyme Regis News, has attracted some well-known personalities in the food world to host a variety of talks, tastings and tutorials.

This year the organisers are pleased to have the company on Festival Day, on Saturday, June 15, of special guests, Lesley Waters and Tim Maddams alongside a number of popular and talented local chefs.

West Dorset-based Lesley Waters, pictured right, has regularly appeared on food programmes such as Ready Steady Cook and This Morning.

As well as being a cookery writer, running a successful cookery school in Halstock, her latest venture is her Kitchen Café and restaurant in Yeovil.

Lesley will be giving a cooking demonstration at 12.30pm and has agreed to judge the Bridport Bake celebration chocolate cake competition.

Tim Maddams, pictured left, is a chef, food writer and cookery teacher who is probably best known for having been the head chef at River Cottage and appearing regularly in the River Cottage television series.

During his time there, Tim pioneered ethical, local, seasonal produce and became a key spokesman in the arena of responsibly-sourced food, writing for a variety of food publications and as a central contributor to the Fish Fight campaign.

He now runs his own company, Green Sauce, teaching, cooking and consulting on ethical food.

At this year’s Festival Tim will be running adult and child hands-on cookery classes in the Yeovil College Feast Bus, a facility with a fully equipped kitchen and teaching stations.

He will be teaching people how to make a simple dish from scratch, talking about the importance of local food and home cooking and the issue of food waste There will be a charge of £5 per couple and there will be five or six sessions, which will be bookable in advance and on the day.

Tim said: “I’m really excited about being a part of Bridport food festival. It's a great opportunity for me to share my knowledge and enthusiasm for cookery, ethical food and local sourcing with likeminded people in a vibrant environment.”

In the Round Table Children’s Marquee, there will be free bread-making and cheese-making sessions for children by local chefs such as Aidan Chapman of Phoenix Bakery.

The Yeovil Feast Bus will also be at St. Mary’s School on Thursday 13th and Friday June 14 and 15 where Local Food Links will be doing cookery sessions for parents and children.