A COUNTY Durham pupil, who impressed a celebrity chef with her inventive meatball recipe, has earned a place in a regional cook-off.

Emily Bloomer, of Middridge, near Newton Aycliffe, is one of 50 youngsters who will compete in the North-East heat of the Red Tractor beef and lamb Make it with Mince Challenge 2012.

The 12-year-old, who attends Greenfield Community College, was selected from hundreds of entrants after impressing celebrity chef James Martin with her lamb and apricot meatballs.

Emily will go on to recreate her dish for Martin and his fellow judges at the regional cook-offs in Harrogate on November 12.

If she succeeds, the talented youngster will join five other regional winners in the national finals, where she will compete for a money-can't-buy prize of spending a day with Martin in London, watching the BBC’s Saturday Kitchen live and sampling menus at some of the capital's top restaurants.

Now in its seventh year, the Red Tractor beef and lamb Make it with Mince Challenge, is aimed at 11 to16-year-olds who want to test their cooking skills and have their culinary talent to be recognised.