BUDDING Bury gastronomes whipped up culinary creations in a bid to become a junior masterchef.

Five schools from the town submitted teams for Junior Masterchef 2002, which is in its fourth year.

The event, run by the Rotary Club of Tottington and Bury West, took place at Bury College.

Elton, Broad Oak, Bury Grammar Girls, St Gabriel's and Tottington High School submitted 21 entries between them, which then got whittled down to eight teams of two pupils, aged between 13 and 16.

And pictured finding it all a little grating as they press on in the competition are 14-year-old Charlotte Neary (left), and Victoria Neary (13), from St Gabriel's High School.

Competition was extremely tough as the youngsters displayed their culinary skills.

Top of the cooks were Emma Gibson (14) and Helen Bennett (15) from Elton High School, winning a trophy and £25 each.

The second prize of £15 each went to 13-year-olds Sophie Harrrison and Laura Kennedy, of Tottington High School. In third place came Laura Topping and Kelly Major, both 14, from St Gabriel's.

All the teams were allowed £12 for their meal's preparation, which had to comprise a chicken dish for main course and a dessert.

Glyn Roberts, chairman of the vocational services committee for the Rotary Club, said: "Bury pupils are very keen to take part in Junior Masterchef each year.

"One of the catering students at Bury College commented that when he was at school he wished he'd taken part in the competition."

The event was judged by Mo Daho, a catering lecturer at Bury College, and Gilbert LeFevre, who is a retired executive chef from the Midland Hotel in Manchester.

The winning team's menu was: stuffed chicken breasts with cream sauce, glazed carrots, green beans with garlic and boiled new potatoes. Dessert: raspberry vanilla crush.