THE East Cleveland curry chef of the year has been announced.

Louise Forrest of the Baan Thai Restaurant on Station Road, Redcar, beat off fierce competition from two other curry chefs to be awarded the title.

The chef will now represent East Cleveland in the North-East heat of the national finals.

Judges were environmental health officer Derek McGurl, Nadia and Rubina Nawaj of the South Bank Asian community, Redcar school cook Debbie Wintersgill and Advertiser reporter Chris Webber.

The two other chefs in the final were Muhibur Rahman of the Light of Asia on Queen Street, Redcar, and Jamrat Promsit of the Baan Thai Restaurant on Fountain Street, Guisborough.

The national final will be held in Birmingham in November with a first prize of £3,000.