WHEN the heat's on in the school kitchen these three dinner-ladies know exactly how to put the lid on rising tempers and temperatures.

The stressed-out trio turn to the mysteries of the East to cope with the daily pressures of serving up 800 lunches to the growing lads and lasses at St Wilfrid's High School in Blackburn.

A Darwen-based holistic centre is serving up soothing reiki sessions at the end of a long day at the stove and turning them into ladies in de-stress.

One of the three caterers, manager Carolyn Broadbent, said: "We were all non-believers, but it's tremendous. It really works.

"You arrive feeling hot and bothered, but you leave feeling chilled out. The effects of a session last at least a couple of days."

The dinner-ladies were first approached to undergo the calming therapy by BBC TV researchers for the programme Heaven on Earth.

They were placed in the caring hands of Dorothy Bolan, a senior partner with the Raphael Holistic Centre in Darwen.

Mrs Bolan explained: "Reiki uses healing energy which is channelled to the patient to reduce their stress. It's a universal life force."

Reiki originates from Japan in the late 1800s and is the practice of healing patients simply by placing their hands on them or just above them.

It is said to have been based on Jesus's knack of healing the sick in a similar way.

Mrs Bolan said: "You can use hands-above or hands-on. I use hands-on because most adults do not experience enough touch in their lives.

"The effects treat their physical, emotional, spiritual or mental needs."

Researchers targeted the dinner-ladies as they wanted people who had stressful professions.

And feeding 850 children three times a day certainly qualifies the ladies from St Wilfrid's.

Carolyn said: "As soon as the breakfast is finished you are preparing the dinner. Then it's break time, I'd say it was stressful.

"But the reiki was fantastic, we have asked to have it written in to our contracts.

"The session moved from my temples to my shoulders and then my legs. I was very warm and rushed when I arrived, but I soon felt a peculiar coldness."

And she said Mrs Bolan was able to tell she had once had a hip operation, even though she could not see or feel a scar through her clothing.

"I felt floaty and really relaxed. I was very impressed," the ice-cool head of St Wilfrid's award-winning catering department said.