Village seeking Lottery cash for food project in TV competition

And this week marked the culmination of their efforts, as they met representatives from the Big Lottery Fund for a make-or-break meeting which could see the Peak District community of Tideswell made the star of a new BBC TV show.

At the meeting yesterday those behind the Taste Tideswell project aimed to convince Lottery chiefs that they should make it through to the final of the BBC's Village SOS contest, which will see six villages given up to 400,000 each to launch a new business.

The scheme aims to make Tideswell a byword for gastronomic excellence by promoting local produce, setting up a cookery school and community garden and also running classes on healthy food for schoolchildren.

They will find out next week if they have been successful.

The chairman of the Taste Tideswell committee, bed and breakfast owner Pete Hawkins, explained: "We're one of more than 20 villages that are fighting for six places.

"We feel what we've got is a magnificent, innovative project that has the potential not just to benefit Tideswell but to benefit other villages around the country, as what we've done could be used as a blueprint for other projects.

"This could be a working model for how to regenerate a village community."

As one of the 28 shortlisted villages, the people of Tideswell have already secured the help of Village Champion Tim Nicol, a marketing consultant who has been helping locals to make the Taste Tideswell project a reality since November last year.

Each of the final six villages will be the subject of an hour-long documentary, to be screened on BBC1 next year.

Tideswell is home to some 1,700 people, many of whom commute the 20 miles to Sheffield to work.

Like many other rural villages, it has seen a decline in the number of shops and local services in recent years, and Mr Hawkins said the community was now at a "critical phase".

It is hoped the Taste Tideswell project would treble the local food economy by uniting the village's produce under a common banner.

Those wanting to market their food under the brand would pay a small fee, which would then be used to market "Taste Tideswell" as a whole.