CONTROVERSIAL school catering company Chartwells has been named Contract Caterer of the Year at a national awards ceremony.

The company, blamed for a catalogue of errors in Dorset at the start of the last school year, received the award at a glittering ceremony in London last night.

It won the title at the EDUcatering Excellence Awards, held at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington.

A Chartwells spokesperson said; “We’re thrilled to have received two awards at this year’s EDUcatering Excellence Awards, for Contract Caterer of the Year and Specialist of the Year.

"Our aim is to provide the highest quality catering service to pupils and students so to receive these awards is fantastic acknowledgement of the work we do.”

Chartwells provides meals to thousands of pupils in Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset and was behind teething problems last year when schools reported problems with meals not being delivered, not arriving in the correct quantities or of poor quality.

Some head teachers were forced to order pizza delivery or dash to local shops to buy sandwiches for youngsters.

Chartwells had been awarded a contract worth £3.5 million a year for four years to deliver locally-produced, nutritious meals to 109 schools in Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset.

A fire at its kitchen hub in Ferndown last June meant the company was ill-prepared for the start of the school year in September.

Since then seven schools have pulled out of the contract and now use alternative providers.

Earlier this year Chartwells won two awards for excellence at the Lead Association for Catering in Education awards.

Chartwells' marketing team won the LACA education marking award and the firm's nutrition and Isle of Wight teams won the Nan Berger Memorial Award.