A COUPLE of Preston lads are cutting the mustard at the Savoy -- cooking lunch for the Queen -- after securing a placement with the top London hotel.

The New Deal Preston College students are studying NVQ's in food preparation and service, and will be slaving over a hot stove in one of the hotel's seven kitchens for the next week.

Paul Cayton, 24, of Kingsway, Leyland, and 22-year-old Lee Herron, of Village Green Lane, Ingol, were accepted to work in one of the largest kitchens in the world headed by the award winning Maitre Chef des Cuisines -- Anton Edelmann.

Paul said: "I made lunch for the Queen she was in the banqueting hall with about 400 guests and I saw her smiling. She had Chicken Royale with wild mushroom and chicken mousse and for dessert she had ice cream with a delicate sponge filling."

Paul, a former Worden High School pupils, worked in the Cock and Bottle, in Tarleton, as a comme chef, then spent some time in the building trade before seizing the opportunity to study again as part of the New Deal programme.

Lee, who has worked in kitchens in Preston and the Lake District, said: "This is the most exciting thing I have ever done. I made the Queen's starter which was salmon on a bed of rocket. I love working here -- people think chefs are moody, but everyone is really friendly."

The Lancashire lads are having the time of their lives and both hope to work in the Savoy again this summer.

Paul said: "I would like to make dinner for Michael Owen and I can't wait to do some celebrity spotting over the next few days."

mblackburn@lancashire.newsquest.co.uk