Guest cooks at the event, held at Blyth Community College, included Blyth Spartans captain Gareth Williams and Mr Miah from the Pan Ahar restaurant in Newsham.

The cooking club from the Blyth school is called 'What's cookin' and is led by co-ordinator Jayne Fitzsimmons.

It is all part of the national 'Let's Get Cooking' network of school-based cookery clubs, which is backed by £20m from the Big Lottery Fund.

The cook-a-thon was launched to gather as many people as possible to cook a healthy dish together and to show just what fun cooking can be for everyone.

It is estimated that 20,000 people took part in the most recent event.

School Food Trust director of programmes and partnerships David Edwards said: "We are delighted that so many tens of thousands of people have joined in the Let's Get Cooking cook-a-thon.

"Let's Get Cooking launched only 18 months ago yet the popularity among people of all ages, of learning and developing healthy cooking skills is demonstrated in this exciting event."

For more information about Let's Get Cooking visit www.letsgetcooking.org.uk