STAFF at Bettys Cookery School have been awarded a double helping of national recognition in the space of just a few days.

The School, which neighbours Bettys Craft Bakery in Harrogate, and is part of the family owned Yorkshire tea, coffee and cakes business, has been named Best Cookery School in the Looking to Cook UK Cookery School of the Year Awards 2014.

The win was quickly followed with a Highly Commended at the British Cookery School Awards in London.

The judging panel, which included Master Chef winner Thomasina Miers, gave Bettys Cookery School the winning title in the national competition for its "expert nurturing of staff, innovation in courses, free breadmaking classes for school children and attention to customers’ needs".

The second award was in the category Best Large Recreational Cookery School.

Head of Bettys Cookery School Emma Wray, said: "We are all so delighted to receive this national acclaim.

"It’s a real testimony to the expertise and skills of our tutors and to our philosophy of teaching cooking ‘the Bettys way.’ "We are especially grateful too for the teaching support of our master craftspeople at Bettys Bakery. We are in good company - they recently won their own national award Craft Business of the Year.”

Bettys Cookery School, founded in 2001, offers a range of courses with trained tutors and craft bakery experts passing on Bettys secrets and tips gathered over nearly a century of food expertise.