A PENDLE school football team is swapping football boots for oven gloves to prove it's in a league of its own in the kitchen.

The entire under-15s team of Edge End School, Nelson, has volunteered to kick off the Cascading Cookery Club this Saturday.

The scheme, believed to be the first of its kind in East Lancashire, will see the boys receive hands-on tuition in healthy cooking from pupils from Nelson and Colne College, to learn about healthy eating and show the girls how it's done.

As part of the pilot initiative, backed by Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Primary Care Trust, the team will pass on their new found culinary skills to younger school children in the borough next month.

Julie Johnson, health development manager of Edge End School, said she is supporting the scheme, which is part of the Government-backed Lancashire Healthy Schools Programme. She said: "We hope it acts as a spark to encourage more healthy eating."

The exercise is also seen as an opportunity to bring together children and parents of different faiths, backgrounds and cultures to share their recipes.

The scheme has been organised in conjunction with the school's youth worker, Mashuq Hussein. The school has made its mark by winning the Year 10 Inter-school Football Championships. He said: "It's good to see the soccer lads getting stuck in to cooking."