A chef will be hoping that fourth time is the charm as he competes in the UK's most prestigious cooking competition for the fourth and final time.

Ben Champkin from Dorset has got through to the semi-finals of a competition to find Britain's best young chef.

Having been a finalist in the Roux Scholarship three times previously, Ben is hoping he can win the contest this time around. 

The Roux Scholarship has been running for more than 30 years and is judged by celebrity chefs Michel Roux Jnr (BBC Saturday Kitchen, Kitchen Impossible, Masterchef), Brian Turner CBE (BBC's Ready, Steady, Cook and Saturday Kitchen) and James Martin (BBC Saturday Kitchen, This Morning and Saturday Morning with James Martin) among many other Michelin-starred chefs.    

Ben, 30, was educated at The Gryphon School and The Abbey Primary School in Sherborne. He is now head chef at the internationally acclaimed ‘The Newt’ in Somerset. 

This year will be Ben's last chance for victory in the Roux Scholarship as entrants must be aged between 22 and 30.

He said: "I have been trying since 2016, entering every year and this is my last chance.

"I was a finalist three times before, but it is different in every final so it will be a tough competition.

"It is an achievement I always wanted, the previous winners have been an aspiration to me, I would love to be able to give back to the industry as well.

"The doors it opens to, you get the chance to work in any Michelin 3-star restaurant across the world for three months."

Before settling in a restaurant in Somerset, Ben has travelled around the UK and the world working in restaurants in Torquay, London, the Lake District and California before his "homecoming" to the south west in 2020.

Ben said: "It was like a homecoming essentially, I grew up in Sherborne and worked at the Eastbury Hotel.

"My family are still in Sherborne and Gillingham. I have lots of friends and family back home who are really supportive."