TOP chefs Mark Hix and Mat Follas are on the hunt for Dorset’s best young seafood cook.

They will judge the final of the Dorset Young Seafood Masterchef of the Year contest at the Dorset Seafood Festival on Sunday, July 12.

The event will be one of the main attractions of the Dorset Seafood Festival on Weymouth Harbourside on July 11 and 12.

Mark Hix was chef director at the Ivy in London before opening his own restaurant Oyster and Fish House in Lyme Regis.

Mr Follas, from Beaminster, is the MasterChef 2009 winner and is opening his own restaurant, Wild Garlic, in his home town.

Entrants in the competition must submit a recipe for a main course dish, which must feature sustainable Dorset Seafood and locally sourced ingredients. Eight shortlisted entrants will be invited to a ‘cook off’ at Weymouth College on June 23 The semi-final and final will be held at the seafood festival on July 11 and 12 on the celebrity chef main stage.

Mr Hix and Mr Follas will decide the winner of the Dorset Young Seafood Masterchef of the Year title and hand over a trophy.

The winner will receive a day’s work experience at Mr Hix’s Oyster and Fish House Restaurant in Lyme Regis.

He or she will also win a Global Kitchen Knife Set worth £250 and a themed night meal for four at Cygnets’ Restaurant, Weymouth College.

Entries must reach Weymouth College by post or hand by 5pm on the June 15.

The Dorset Seafood Festival is sponsored by Seafish Southwest and Villa Maria New Zealand Wine and Weymouth College.

Entry forms can be downloaded from the Dorset Seafood Festival website at www.dorsetseafood.co.uk and the Weymouth College website www.weymouth.ac.uk

They can also be picked up from the main reception and at the TimeWalk, Brewers Quay.