HE may be good at rustling up food for birds and monkeys, but it was a whole different ball-game for a young Watchet zookeeper when he ended up cooking for a special Mary Berry show, due out next week.

Jake Tyler, 23, of Watchet, is set to star in the BBC’s Mary Berry Saves Christmas next Wednesday, as one of three hopeless kitchen novices who create surprise festive feasts – having never cooked a proper meal from scratch in their lives.

Jake, who has worked at Tropiquaria Zoo for the last seven years, ended up on the show after the BBC contacted the zoo as a place where work does not stop over Christmas. He was ‘hand-picked’ by Mary, who thought it a good time for him to start learning how to feed humans as well as animals.

In the show, Mary teaches him her recipe for butternut squash, stilton and sage tart, so he can attempt to treat his bosses with a surprise feast, to thank them for all their support this year.

“At least with that option, I knew people couldn’t get food poisoning,” Jake said this week. “But having done it, I’ve got the T-shirt and I’m not doing it again. It’s back to fast foods for me.”

For the full story see this week’s West Somerset Free Press.