THREE catering and hospitality students from Bournemouth and Poole College reached the final of a prestigious national competition.

Alex Brown, Thomas Orchard and Dan Millington cooked up a treat at the British Culinary Federation Student Challenge Cook and Serve Team of the Year contest in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Their menu of gilt-head bream, rack of lamb and trio of chocolate delicacies was highly praised by the judges and they came second in the closely-fought contest.

“We are very proud to have reached the final – it was a golden opportunity to show just what we can do in front of top professionals,” said college catering learning co-ordinator Gary Kilminster.

“It was pretty nerve-wracking but they coped well with the pressure and produced three great courses,” he added.