GUEST chefs from the local area will be stepping up to the counter at the Lucknam Park Cookery School, which this week introduced a new head chef, Ben Taylor, and new cookery courses

priced from £75-£175.

Ben Taylor, who joined Lucknam’s Michelin-starred The Park restaurant in March 2010 and was promoted to Brasserie Head Chef in 2013, is passionate about locally-sourced seasonal ingredients. He will be running an innovative new course calendar, under the guidance of Michelin-starred executive chef Hywel Jones.

The first chef to join Ben in the Lucknam Park Cookery School, which is now a member of the esteemed Independent Cookery Schools Association, is Trowbridge's Wafaa Powell, who will be showcasing her range of Lebanese recipes on Sunday, July 18.

The idea of the new programme is to mix courses which offer practical help in getting to grips with cooking with more seasonal offerings and cookery from around the world: Bath's Masterchef winner Ping Coombes is running a tutorial on Malaysian cooking in November.

The new cooking courses feature Cooking Gastro, on July 24 and September 22; Survive as a Student, September 3 and 10; Autumn Harvest, October 21; Glorious Game, October 15 and November 12 and seasonal themed courses for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas to include Christmas Baking on, December 10 and Stress-free Christmas Lunch on December 8 and 17.

Around the World courses include a Festival of Spices on September 8 and November 11; Tempting Tapas, August 27, September 26 and October 20 and Welsh Favourites with Hywel Jones, October 8.

Guest chefs coming into the kitchens include Matt Tebbutt on October 17; a Japanese Masterclass with Andrew Kojima on October 16 and Ping Coombes on November 4.

To find out more or to book, contact 01225 742 777 or see www.lucknampark.co.uk. One day courses cost from £175 per person including lunch, with half day courses from £75 per person. The school is open Tuesday-Saturday, with six cooking stations for a maximum of 12 participants.