The competition is heating up for a Melbourn chef who is through to the regional heats of a top cookery contest.

Yuan Lee, 18, from Melbourn, has made it through to the Midlands and East Anglia heat of the Brakes Student Chef Team challenge, which will be held at Stratford on Avon on 7 March.

The contest, the country’s premier competition for student chefs, attracted a record 87 team entries from colleges throughout the UK, with 52 shortlisted for the cook-offs.

A student at Cambridge Regional College, Yuan and her team mates - fellow students Jenny Polhil and Maria Kovacheva - will each cook one course in a bid to win through to the national finals in London in April.

CRC lecturer Graham Taylor said he was delighted the student chefs had won their way through to the regional heats.

“The standard of entries to the Brakes competition is very high so it is great news that the CRC team will be competing in the live cook-offs,” he said.

“Jenny, Yuan and Maria are all talented young chefs and their chosen dishes are very popular with customers at the Park restaurant - so we are hoping they will also impress the judges.”

The team will be cooking celeriac apple soup with hog fritters, pan-fried venison with saladaise potatoes and dark chocolate cherry fondant with white chocolate ice cream.