A FOOD-LOVING Lower Whitley girl hit upon a recipe for success when she entered a nationwide competition.

Faye Clayton, aged 13, entered a contest to find a great British meal for a Great British icon.

The Manchester High School for Girls pupil devised two mouth-watering dishes for double Olympic gold medalist Dame Kelly Holmes to win the contest, organised by catering company, Aramark.

Aware that a high carbohydrate content and calorie count was favoured by sportsmen and women she made toad-in-the-hole with a celebrity filling runner beans side dish. The main course was accompanied by raspberry and blackberry crumble.

Faye won £500 worth of gardening vouchers for her school, which will be spent on healthy-living initiatives, as well as receiving a £50 fashion voucher for herself.

She said: "I was inspired to choose Dame Kelly because she is a fantastic role model for girls of my age given that she has constantly overcome obstacles to succeed in life. She visited our school last year to open its new sports complex and left a very big impression on us all.

Aramark business development manager, Fiona Harrop, added: "Faye's entry was selected by an independent dietician and she has clearly had some fun with it. She was astute with both her choice of dishes and celebrity, citing Dame Kelly as an inspiring and fantastic role model."

miranda.newey@huardiangrp.co.uk