A MICHELIN-starred chef is planning to serve up a scholarship programme at his luxury Langho-based restaurant.

Celebrity chef Nigel Haworth has joined forces with Blackburn College to get more trainee chefs into the kitchen.

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Trained at Accrington and Rossendale Catering College, Nigel has manned the pans at the Grosvenor Hotel in London and Scotland’s famous Gleneagles resort. He also runs a chain of award-winning pubs across East Lancashire.

The food guru said: “Our business is based in Blackburn and we have several pubs in the area, as well as the most famous restaurant, so partnering up with Blackburn College seemed to be a logical thing to do.

“We have such a great training facility at Northcote. We work with Blackburn College to help people’s development, from trainee chefs to mature students, which is a really fantastic opportunity.”

Full-time front-of-house and chef students in their third year can apply for the 12-month scholarship.

Work experience and placements are available to catering and hospitality students, who can work one day a week at Northcote, at Blackburn Rovers, The Three Fishes in Mitton and The Clog and Billycock, Blackburn.

Recent research found a chronic shortage of qualified cooks across the country, with an estimated 11,000 more needed by 2022 to keep pace with the growing restaurant sector.

Students Zoe McCraig, 18 and Jess Beetham, 18, are both benefitting from the scholarship on their Level 3 Professional Cookery course.

Paul Sharples from Blackburn College said: “It’s important to us our students get to experience working in a real-life environment.

“Collaborations such as our scholarship programme with Northcote help them stand out in the crowd when applying to university or getting the best jobs in a demanding industry.

“There’s a demand locally for highly-trained chefs with top establishments such as Northcote. Colleges cannot work in isolation to train people without learning what the industry really requires and schemes such as this help bridge that gap.”