An aspiring actress has won a cooking contest and bagged £4,000 worth of groceries.

Kate Holderness, 29, of New Wanstead, won the Compassionate Cook contest run by RSPCA project Freedom Food after entering her recipe for chilli-con-sausage.

Contestants entered their recipes by making videos showcasing ingredients with Freedom Food or Fairtrade labels.

Judges said Miss Holderness won due to her sense of humour and deadpan delivery.

She said: “I had such a fun time filming my video.

“I really wanted to enter because I feel strongly about the fair treatment of all animals including farm animals, but I never expected to win as the other entries were so fantastic.

“I am pursuing an acting career so I thought the competition would be a great way to test out my skills.

“I shall be using my prize to buy food for the family for a year.”

Competition judge Paul Merrett said: “She’s fantastic. Give this girl her own show.  I loved her deadpan delivery and her sense of humour is fabulous – she’s a TV natural.

“The dish was good and her message about the importance of buying higher welfare Freedom Food products, as well as Fairtrade products was clear.”

Freedom Food is a UK food assurance scheme which approves producers against the RSPCA’s farm animal welfare standards.

See Miss Holderness' entry here: