Blackburn Rovers Michelin Starred chef Nigel Haworth is heading for glory on the small screen after bagging a place in the finals of the hotly contested TV show Great British Menu.

Nigel, 49, wowed the judges with recipes based on the innovative use of regional produce to create dishes such as warm hot pot salad with sweetbreads and pickled red cabbage, line caught Whitby cod with trotters, tripe, broad beans and peas and British white beef with smoked marrowbone, baby cauliflower and watercress puree.

Having won a place in the finals Nigel will be taking on some of the top chefs in the UK in just a few days/tonight as the final round of the top rated BBC 2 show begins at 7pm on May 19th.

"Inspirational" and "visionary" are just two of the words which have been used to describe Nigel's cooking, and as head chef and joint owner of Northcote Manor he has also managed to earn the establishment a highly coveted Michelin Star.

Nigel, who has been working at Northcote Manor since 1984 also oversees the catering operations at Blackburn Rovers home ground of Ewood Park, where a dedicated Northcote team under the gaze of Chef David Lyons can cook for up to 1,000 people at a time.

He said: "As a fan it's fantastic cooking for Rovers, I get to see behind the scenes at Ewood Park, and I have got to know the players, the management and the backroom staff, a lot of fans would give their right arm for that kind of experience.

"I have been a Rovers fan since I was a teenager, I started to watch them when I was about 14 or 15 years old and then moved away with my work and took up watching them again when I got back from Switzerland, I have watched them ever since.

"My big early memories of Blackburn Rovers are of ducking and diving in the Blackburn End, as a young lad. Later on it was watching players like Scott Sellers back in the 1980's."

The catering operation at Ewood Park and Northcote Manor's reputation has also seen Nigel and his team attract some top names to eat at Northcote Manor.

He said: "This season I have cooked for Roque Santa Cruz at Northcote Manor and he certainly seems to enjoy good food, Jason Roberts is a big fan and Damien Duff used to be in a fair bit, so was Alan Shearer, he loved his food. I also cooked for Wayne Rooney as well on his 21st

"Of the current team though I'd love to see David Bentley come over to try the food at Northcote Manor and Brad Friedel - though we would have to give Brad an extra large portion as he's a big lad and I have seen how much he can put away."

As well as cooking at Northcote Manor and working out some great new recipes for Rovers fans to try out on match days Nigel has also found the time to battle his way into the finals of Great British Menu.

He said: "I have been very busy of late because I have also been appearing on the Great British Menu and have now won my place in the final against some very tough competition where I will be flying the flag for the North West.

"It's been a really interesting experience and great fun, but very time consuming. The response has been fantastic though and the support of people from around Blackburn and Lancashire as a whole has been great."

Nigel, who is famed for his support of regional producers around Lancashire, has used many locally sourced ingredients in the recipes he has prepared for the show.

He said: "I support producers in Lancashire because we have some of the best products available anywhere right on our own doorstep. We have great cheese and meat and over the years I have got to know some fantastic suppliers.

"What sums up the best of Lancashire in terms of food and the ingredients we use, I would say potted shrimps from Morcambe Bay and a good Lancashire Hotpot. These dishes represent good simple food using fresh, local ingredients and stand up against the regional food produced by any other country around the world.

"What we have tried to do at Blackburn Rovers is work with their team to bring our experience of fine dining to hospitality and merge the two. We are looking at quality, simplicity and capturing the regional feel that so many people are currently embracing."

"We like to change the menu every season and it's great fun because we can do stuff at the stadium we can't do at the restaurant which means we can offer fans some great food on match day.

"Who knows next year we might start doing the pies as well."

Nigel next appears on the Great British Menu on May 19th at 7pm on BBC 2 and wants your votes to win the show on behalf of the North. To find out how to vote for Nigel visit www.bbc.co.uk/food/tv_and_radio/menu_index.shtml