A CULINARY wizard from Thelwall cooked up a storm last week but missed out on a place in the semi final of a national chef competition.

Adam Woods, chef at the Little Manor pub in the village, made his way through to the regional heat of the Chef and Brewer chef of the year contest in Manchester.

Adam, who cooked pan-fried halibut on a puree of petis pois a la Francais served with a nicoise dressing and garnished with potato feuille, said he was up against excellent chefs in the contest.

He added; "I've been trying the recipe out on the customers in the Little Manor for the last few weeks and it seems to have gone down very well."

The winner of the heat, held at Manchester Metropolitan University, was from Sheffield.