A SCHOOLGIRL chef will find out this week whether she has been crowned Britain’s best young cook.

Josie Broom has made it to the final four of this year’s Junior MasterChef contest, being screened on BBC1 this week.

The 12-year-old, from Esh, near Durham City, has been competing in a series of tough culinary challenges to try to impress MasterChef judge, John Torode, and food blogger and cook, Donal Skehan to win the title.

Viewers have seen the final four battle it out cooking for a top Berkshire hotel and a Notting Hill Carnival band, before Friday’s final test, creating a sumptuous three-course meal in just two hours after which the champion will be crowned.

Josie, a pupil at Durham High School For Girls, has been cooking since the age of three, when she learned to make biscuits with her grandfather, and her ambition is to own a cake shop or cafe.

She said she was ecstatic to have reached the final four of the contest and added: "I was definitely nervous - who wouldn’t be when you’re about to cook the most important few meals of your life on camera?

"It was a nerve-wracking experience because you know that they know how the recipe should be, so everything must be just right".

The final of Junior MasterChef will be screened on BBC1 at 4.30pm on Friday.