YOUNG chefs from Dorset will be challenged to stand the heat outside the kitchen in a waterfront seafood cook-off.

The county's most talented chefs - aged 17 to 23 - are being recruited for the Dorset Seafood Festival.

The contest will be whittled down to four finalists who will cook their recipes on stage around Wey-mouth's old harbour over the two-day event.

At stake is a first prize of work experience at celebrity chef Mark Hix's new Lyme Regis restaurant.

Weymouth will be transformed into a seafood village over the weekend of July 12 to 13.

Fish and shellfish will be landed straight from the boats, prepared and cooked in the open and offered to festival visitors.

The event is part of the resort's Spirit of the Sea Maritime Festival, which takes place between July 5 and 13.

Entrants must currently be working in the Dorset catering industry at a junior level and should apply by June 14. Details are available from Liz Whishaw on 01305 785799 or visit www.dorsetseafood.co.uk