CHILDREN across Oxfordshire are being asked to put their thinking caps on to come up with a menu to rival the finest offerings of Jamie Oliver or Raymond Blanc.

The design a meal competition was launched today is a bid to encourage youngsters to eat healthily and get them interested in cooking.

The children who come up with the most original and creative menus will then take part in a "cook-off", with the overall winner getting a day at Raymond Blanc's legendary Cookery School at Great Milton, near Thame.

Kate Dunsdon, local food development officer and co-ordinator of the competition, said: "Young people are bombarded with lots of different messages about what they should and should not be doing.

"Unfortunately, a lot of young people grow up without learning how to cook, for a lot of reasons, so we are hoping this will put the idea of healthy eating and cooking skills on to young people's agendas."

Schools and youth organisations are being invited to take part. There are categories for children aged between five and 11, 12 and 15, and 16 and 19.

Recipes must be a balanced meal, using as many seasonal or local ingredients as possible, cooked from scratch and producing the smallest amount of waste possible.

Recipes have to be submitted by June 4, then the best and most original entrants will take part in a cook-off on June 24.

The contest has been devised in partnership with a number of organisations which promote healthy eating.

Winners will get a family ticket to the Northmoor Trust's Project Timescape visitor centre and a £50 food voucher.

Second prize will be a cookery book and a gift basket, and the third prize is a month's supply of smoothies. For more details, email kdunsdon@oxford.gov.uk