COUNCILLOR David Whipp cooked up a storm as his dish took first place in the World Meat Pie Championship.

But, ironically, the Lancashire county councillor’s prize-winning pastry didn’t feature any meat at all!

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His vegetarian cheese and onion recipe won the judges’ praises after an anonymous taste test during the February Feast: Love Food, Love Barnoldswick event in the town square on Saturday.

And his secret ingredient? “Lots of love,” said Cllr Whipp, who acts as co-chairman of Barnoldswick Town Centre Action Group and bakes for the Barnoldswick in Bloom cafe.

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The West Craven Lib Dem added: “It was a fantastic day and it went surprisingly well for me. There was a tremendous buzz about the town and lots of visitors from outside the area enjoying the occasion with townsfolk.

“It was a huge success. It was organised to celebrate Barnoldswick’s success in the Great British High Street Awards. We noticed there was a lengthy gap between the events before Christmas and St George’s Day celebrations in April, so it was a new venture but it went very well.”

James Wilson, who organised the pie contest, said the standard of entries was ‘fantastic’.

He said: “We had three categories: meat, vegetarian and speciality. I’ve judged pie competitions for years and I have to say the standard of both the professional and amateur entries was fantastic.

“There were 54 entries in total and we are very grateful to the likes of Oddie’s who got into the spirit of things.

“We looked at the thickness of the pastry, the evenness of the bake and of course the taste of the filling.

“In the end it was a close call between two pies but our two vegetarian judges told me I had to try their favourite and I couldn’t disagree. It was gorgeous.”