BUDDING chef Mark Graham won The Northern Echo Junior Cook of the Year title yesterday - with a little help from opera singer Luciano Pavarotti.

Mark, 13, of Friars Pardon, Hurworth, near Darlington, chose an Italian theme for his menu in the competition at Darlington College of Technology.

His main course of Sicilian chicken with rice and vegetables was ingeniously presented in the colours of the Italian flag.

And his "Pavarotti Pud" raised a smile among the judges when he said: "Pavarotti is really fat, so I put in lots of ingredients that were really fattening, like chocolate and double cream."

Mark, a pupil at Hurworth Comprehensive School, won £100 from the college and a handsome trophy.

A fan of television programme Ready Steady Cook, his ambition is to be a TV chef and to open his own restaurant.

The competition is in its fourth year, and chairman of the judges, Peter Bell, head of catering at the college, said: "The standard gets higher every year, with some excellent skills on display."

The other judges were college principal Peter Shuker, and editor of The Northern Echo, Peter Barron.

The other finalists were: Laura Davis, 14, from Billy Row, Crook, a pupil at St John's RC Comprehensive School, Bishop Auckland; Martin Smails, of Lambton Street, Shildon, also from St John's in Bishop Auckland; Jennifer Dodsworth, 11, of Ainthorpe Lane, Danby, Whitby, a pupil at Danby Church of England Primary School; Laura Jackson, 15, of Burtree Lane, Darlington, who attends Teesside High School; and Raveen Jayasuriya, 13, of George's Grove, Northallerton, who goes to Allertonshire School, in Northallerton.

l The contest to find The Northern Echo's senior cook of the year takes place at the Homes and Gardens Exhibition at the Blackwell Grange Hotel, Darlington, on Sunday, July 8.