PUPILS from nine schools showed off their culinary skills to impress the judges at the Haslemere30 for Schools competiton on Saturday.

The schools – Camelsdale Primary, Haslemere Preparatory, Northchapel Primary, St Bartholomew's Primary, Woolmer Hill and Bohunt, from Liphook, competed in three categories – star dish, food science, and food smiles.

It was part of the Haslemere30 day to celebrate food produced in the town and surrounding villages within a 30-mile radius.

Food festival organiser Francis Gimblett said: "The task we set our judges was a more difficult one than anticipated, as they found it genuinely tricky to select winners in each of the categories.

"There was a genuine buzz from our judges about how high the standard was across the board, and at the level of enthusiasm from the children. Our congratulations go to St Bartholomew's for winning the overall Haslemere30 Food Stars cup for excelling in all categories, and our thanks goes to the schools and everyone who gave up their time to help us stage what seemed a year ago to be a bit of a crazy idea.

"Come to think of it, it still does."