Three College of West Anglia students have cooked up a culinary storm to qualify for the eliminator stage of the fiercely-fought WorldSkills UK competition.

The popular event, organised by the Craft Guild of Chefs, has already seen three months of competitiveness to reach the regional heats eliminator stage.

Emily Locks, 18, from Marshland St James, Alicja Szmyt, 18, from King’s Lynn and Daniel Freear, 19, from Wisbech, are studying towards diplomas in professional cookery at CWA.

Richard Bradley, head of faculty for hospitality said: “WorldSkills UK competitions inspire our students to be ambitious in showcasing their talents.

“They benefit enormously from the opportunity to test their skills at the highest level and I have no doubt that these three students have benefited greatly from this experience already. I wish them all the best in this next round of competition.”

All three have been successful in the national heats of the WorldSkills UK competition and will now battle it out against some of the top learners in the country in this field.

This next round is to be hosted at Colchester Institute on August 26.

Event organisers say standards are extremely high this year and that the judges have had a difficult task in selecting the competitors to go through so far.

The top 10 achievers from the Colchester round will go forward to the national final at The Skills Show, which is being held in Birmingham in November. Those who have not been successful will start again next year at Hotelympia 2016.