A TEENAGE chef is savouring success after passing a three-year culinary scholarship with distinction - and landing himself a full-time job.

Peter Jackson, 19, who is now a commis chef at Tylney Hall country house hotel in Rotherwick, fulfilled a lifetime ambition when he was accepted for the prestigious Specialised Chefs' Scholarship.

The course is aimed at work-based training for the country's top chef of the future and is a partnership between the Academy of Culinary Arts and the supermarket Waitrose.

Mr Jackson completed a total of three 12-week block release courses at Bournemouth and Poole College and spent the rest of the time on a work placement at Tylney Hall.

The hotel immediately offered him a full-time position when he graduated with distinction in the academy's diploma in professional cookery.

The course was a recipe for success for Mr Jackson, who said: "Being a chef is something I have always wanted to do. My father is a very good cook and that is how I developed an interest in food.

"Even when I was five or six I told my family that I wanted to be a chef, so I was thrilled when I was accepted on the scholarship course.

"I gained invaluable practical experience of a working kitchen at Tylney Hall, and am very pleased to now be working here full-time."

During the course, he learned to prepare and cook a wide variety of dishes, from the basic to the very complex, as well as training in wine and food service.

He also learned culinary and conversational French, food sourcing and catering for banquets.

Executive head chef Stephen Hine was one of the first to congratulate the young man.

He said: "Peter did exceptionally well on the scholarship course and we are delighted to welcome him as a full-time member of our team."