MASTERCHEF winner Claire Lara will top the bill at this year’s Wirral Food and Drink Festival.

The leading chef will join Paul Askew, chef patron at Liverpool’s The London Carriage Works, at the annual event to demonstrate her culinary skills.

Claire, from Moreton, became the first woman to be crowned champion of the BBC’s Masterchef: The Professionals in November last year and is now months away from opening her new La Mouette restaurant at The Royal Hilbre Hotel in Hoylake.

The former Wallasey School pupil will be on stage on Sunday, August 28 at the Claremont Farm event to show local people how to cook up a treat.

Claire said: “I have always wanted to run my own restaurant.

"When I was chosen as the winner, Michel Roux Jr, one of the judges, told me that anything could happen to my career now – and then this opportunity came along.

“I think in a demonstration, if you get the audience laughing, you are halfway there, and it’s important to demonstrate dishes which are achievable for any of the cooks watching – it’s good to show that cooking is not as hard as it looks.”

Festival organiser and farmer Andrew Pimbley says: “We are all thrilled about having Claire and Paul demonstrating together – we know they will bring a real touch of theatre to what has become a hugely popular attraction on the Festival’s main stage.”

The Wirral Food and Drink Festival 2011 will take place at Claremont Farm, Spital, Bebington, Wirral on Sunday, August 29, from 10am to 5pm, and Monday August 30, 10am to 4pm.