BUDDING chefs at a Darlington school showed off their culinary skills in a television-inspired competition.

Teams of pupils from Hurworth School Maths and Computing College battled it out in the kitchen yesterday when they had 45 minutes to prepare a Christmas pudding.

The Ready, Steady Cook competition was won by a group which made a chocolate souffl.

The other groups cooked a range of other festive treats such as a Christmas trifle, a Christmas baked Alaska and Christmas brownies with ice cream.

The teams of students bought their own ingredients then had to prepare the desserts against the clock.

Lucy Maughan, head of pastoral care and Sasha Buckley, pastoral assistant, then had the difficult job of judging the entrants.

The winning team was Jonathan Weeks, Daniel Robson, Tom Flynn and Clare Eddy, all aged 13.