A SCHOOL cook is to prepare one of her 80p budget dishes for some of the most discerning diners in the North-East.

Margaret Campbell will recreate her tuna fishcakes in sweet and sour sauce for the clientele at Lumley Castle Hotel, near Chester-le-Street, County Durham.

Guests will also be able to complete their meal with her chocolate volcano sponge with white chocolate mousse.

The cook at Oakley Cross Primary School, in West Auckland, County Durham, made the dishes in the first heat of the national school cook competition.

Her victory was hard fought, as she had to defeat Lynne Pearson, from Wolshingham Primary, who had won the regional finals for the past three years, and made it to the national finals in 2001.

As part of the contest, hosted by school catering company Scolarest, of Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, competitors had to prepare a two-course meal on a budget of 80p.

Leading the judges was David Stockton, head chef at Lumley Castle. Ms Campbell will spend a day with the hotel's chefs and preparing her recipes for diners.

A Scolarest spokesman said: "David was very impressed and said her dishes needed very little alteration before they could go on his menu."