A CHEF from Worcester will be cooking alongside celebrity chef James Tanner at his new pop-up restaurant at Royal Ascot races next week.

City-born Louisa Tinkler, who trained at Worcester College of Technology, was given the opportunity to work at the Queen Anne kitchen alongside another five colleagues all recruited from the scholarship programme run by food services company Sodexo.

Louisa, aged 26, moved to Eton to be a commis chef after training in Worcester and then went on to become head of hospitality and fine dining at Wycombe Abbey.

She has achieved high accolades throughout her career, winning Young MasterChef of Great Britain in 2012 and representing the UK in Leipzig in 2013 in the World Skills Competition. She also achieved Senior Sodexo Chef of the Year in 2017 and currently works as the Head Chef at Dorney Lake in Berkshire.

She will work at the world-famous races, which run from Tuesday June 20 to Saturday June 24, bringing James Tanner’s signature menu to life, which includes dishes such as steak burgers, slow cooked lamb shoulders and Yaki Udon.

James was a regular chef on the popular BBC Ready, Steady, Cook programme and has also appeared on BBC’s Saturday Kitchen and ITV Breakfast.

Louisa said: “It is a real honour to get the opportunity to cook alongside James Tanner and the wonderful team at Royal Ascot. I have worked at a variety of amazing venues and events, but working at Royal Ascot is definitely up there as a highlight of my career.”