A POOLE mum has won a cookery course at one of the UK's leading cookery schools after winning a competition with a favourite leek recipe.

Laura Hickling topped the contest, run by British Leeks in association with parenting website Mumsnet, after choosing her favourite leek-based recipes.

The prize for the mum of one was a cookery weekend at the renowned Ashburton Cookery School in Devon, where she took part in the Dinner Parties Plus and Patisserie courses under the tutelage of the in-house chefs.

"I enjoy eating leeks, my favourite recipes are those where they are combined with bacon or potatoes, so a good leek and potato soup or leek, bacon and potato bake," she said.

"I lack confidence with cooking so was delighted to win the competition. It was great to be able to do the courses at such a prestigious cookery school and it left me feeling like I could go home and do it myself, including the new recipe I learnt for griddled baby leeks."

There were 1,113 entrants for the competition, who were asked to choose their favourite recipes from top chefs including Sophie Wright and Larkin Cen, with Laura choosing Jane Hornby's Bacon Wrapped Chicken with leeks, peas and basil recipe as her preferred option.

Commenting on the competition's success, Robert Murison from British Leeks said: "We were really pleased with the response to our competition. We teamed up with Mumsnet and Ashburton Cookery school because we understand that parents are often on the look-out for new ideas for healthy family meals and this was an excellent chance to demonstrate some of the recipes families can make with leeks, which are full of important vitamins and minerals."

The humble leek, which is in season for most of the year, has many health benefits from regular consumption including reducing "bad" cholesterol while boosting "good" cholesterol, lowering blood pressure, protecting against some cancers and stabilising blood sugar levels.