Celebrity chefs were all the rage in the 1990s and Barrow Rotary Club gave young cooks who aspired to be the next Delia Smith or Gary Rhodes their chance to shine in the kitchen.

Their Young Chef of the Year proved to be a close-run thing in 1996 with only one mark separating junior winner Rachel Dixon from Thorncliffe School and runner-up Dean Ducie from St Bernard's.

In the end it was Rachel's stacked pancakes served with tomato sauce and mincemeat parcels that turned the contest in her favour.

Barrow Rotary Club president Bill Joughin led the panel of four judges.

He said: "It was a difficult decision. It was very close but we tested, tasted, digested and discussed to find a winner."

The Mail's arts correspondent Helen Wall was on the panel in 1998, as was mayor of Barrow Margaret Martindale, who rewarded the top four young chefs with a cookery book, a gift token and a certificate.

After eight competitors were given 75 minutes to produce a two-course meal, it was 15-year-old Holly McCreanor who took the prize with her spinach summer bake followed by summer fruit pies.

She came just ahead of her fellow Thorncliffe pupil Emma Davies, with Allison Mitchell and Sarah Martinez making up the top four.