TV celebrity chef James Martin has thrown down a culinary challenge to encourage the thousands of people in the region who have difficulties using numbers and basic maths to brush up on these skills and enrol on a free course.

James, star of the BBC’s Saturday Kitchen, was put through his paces creating a delicious strawberry gateaux while up against the clock.

The culinary challenge was to highlight the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) North East’s Get On campaign, a national strategy for improving adult numeracy and literacy.