BBC cooking show contestant Ben Reid has told of his pride at his performance on MasterChef.

Ben, 22, of Wessex Close, Calne, was eliminated from the show but he said it was an amazing experience and he isn’t too disappointed in having to leave.

He is a chef at the Foxham Inn, in Foxham, near Chippenham, and got through to the quarter finals before being eliminated last week.

He was part of series seven of the BBC competitive cooking show for professional working chefs which is judged by Gregg Wallace, Monica Galetti and Marcus Wareing.

Mr Reid studied catering at Swindon College and has worked at Michelin-starred The Harrow in Little Bedwyn and the White Horse in Chippenham before starting at the Foxham Inn in 2013.

He said: “it was weird seeing myself on TV but my confidence has improved so much since being on the show.

"I was a bit disappointed to be eliminated but it was an amazing experience and I’m really happy that I got as far as I did. My cooking wasn’t bad, they just said I needed more experience.

“Cooking for Marcus Wareing was scary but he is such an icon in the food industry and it was great to get his feedback.”

He applied for the show after Foxham Inn owner, Neil Cooper, pushed him into applying for the competition earlier in the year.

He said: “Neil basically put the computer in front of me at work and told me to fill in the application.”

Mr Reid was eliminated in the ninth episode after a difficult skills challenge in the previous episode which included making a dish with whelks and winkles in just 20 minutes along with having to impress a panel of restaurant critics.

He said: “The whelks dish was really hard and turned into a bit of a nightmare.”

Mr Cooper, who is head chef, said: “It is so fantastic that out of the thousands who applied Ben got through to the quarter finals. It shows how good a chef he has the potential to be.

“Before he went on the show we helped him to develop his recipes and allowed customers to try them and give their feedback.”