A MUM has won Government backing to turn her home-cooking into a business providing safe and scrumptious meals for children with food allergies.

Lesley Rattue, from North Waltham, has received a £45,000 Smart Award from the Department of Trade and Industry.

She heard she had been awarded the cash just three weeks after being made redundant by Sun Life Financial of Canada in May.

Now the 34-year-old former marketing manager is asking for volunteers to help her test new organic convenience meals to see how they go down with small children.

Mrs Rattue said: "I had been planning to do this before I was made redundant and it took four months of hard work.

"The number of children with food allergies is increasing and for most meals only 75 per cent of ingredients have to be listed, so it is very difficult for allergy-sufferers to eat them.

"Nut allergy is probably the worst and a lot of companies processing dried fruit also process nuts."

Mrs Rattue's interest in the field began with her little boy Todd, who at the age of four has milk and egg allergies.

She said: "I became obsessive about it and thought things needed to change. When you have a child with a food allergy it is difficult in other ways too. Child care becomes a problem."

Now Mrs Rattue requires 10 parents to test 10 meals in 10 weeks. Her recipes are full main courses and desserts, and the aim is for them to be chilled products.

Mrs Rattue's food includes meatballs, casseroles and gluten-free pasta. She has found mixtures of vegetables and fruit are popular and said her son has developed a more mature palate because he has not been able to eat junk-food.

She has already had keen interest from a commercial backer and is subject to quarterly inspections from the DTI.

She said: "These are organic meals and I'm not using another company's products apart from gluten-free flour and olive oil.

"There is such a lot of rubbish out there. Children need nutritious food."