BUDDING chef Jessica Holloway has proved she is among the best in the country after taking the runner-up spot in a national cooking challenge.

Thomas Hardye School student Jess came second in the Rotary Club's National Young Chef of the Year after reaching the finals of the contest.

Jess, 16, who is a food technology A- Level student at the Dorchester school, represented Dorchester Casterbridge Rotary Club in the challenge after coming top in preliminary rounds.

Her prize for that was a day working with Mark Vaughan, the owner and head chef of Vaughan's Bistro in Weymouth, and Mr Vaughan helped coach Jess ahead of the next rounds of the competition.

A spokesman for the Casterbridge Rotary Club said: "Jess entered the Rotary district final in Wincanton and won the event, beating finalists from Clubs in Dorset and Somerset.

"The judges praised her starter of tiger prawn tails cooked in garlic, chorizo and olive oil with her own rustic dipping bread as being exceptionally good.

"Jess then represented this Rotary district in the South West finals at St Austell, against very strong competition, particularly from Devon which gained both first and second place in the national finals last year."

Jess came second to Florence Middleton from Falmouth and booked one of the two places in the national final representing the South West. Judges Peter Begg, Jamie Oliver's head of food development, Alberto Conti, head chef at Jamie Oliver's 15 restaurant in London and Walter Zanre from Filippo Berio Limited were so amazed with Jess's food that they awarded her second prize in the contest.

As part of her prize Jess won £200 and the chance to spend a day at Jamie Oliver's 15 restaurant.

"This is the first time Dorchester Casterbridge Rotary Club has entered the competition and club members are most grateful to Jess for being such an enthusiastic and tenacious representative of the club and to her family, her teachers at The Thomas Hardye School and Mark Vaughan for all their wonderful support," said the Casterbridge Rotary chairman.