HOT shots of the kitchen are invited to cook up a storm for a celebrity chef and poach the prestigious title of Worcestershire Chef of the Year.

The Evening News has teamed up with the Fownes Hotel and Worcester College of Technology to give both professionals and amateurs the chance to serve Ready Steady Cook's Paul Rankin and a week working in his Belfast restaurant, Cayenne.

In addition to the all expenses-paid trip, the ultimate winner will scoop £250 spending money and a signed Paul Rankin cookbook.

Competition entrants, who must be aged more than 16 years old, need to make full use of products from local suppliers, while judging will be based on sound culinary skills, visual appeal, flavour, texture and sympathetic use of ingredients.

After the initial heats, which take place on Tuesday, April 20 and Monday, April 26 at Worcester College of Technology, a shortlist will be chosen by the Fownes Hotel's head chef and a chef lecturer from Worcester College of Technology.

The final cook-off will take place on Wednesday, May 19 at the Fownes Hotel, where the winner will be crowned and three runners-up will each receive a set of chef's knives and a signed Paul Rankin cook book.

A gala dinner with Paul Rankin will finish the night off in style.